


Resurrection

by WeirdInky



Category: Sally Face (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Asphyxiation, Dirty Talk, Family, Family Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Illustrated, Implied Mpreg, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Major character death - Freeform, Mentions of Abortion, Missionary Position, Mpreg, Original Character(s), Original Child Character(s) - Freeform, Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, Past Character Death, Porn with Feelings, Quiet Sex, Reunion Sex, Suicide mentions, single parent hood
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:14:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 46,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25906405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WeirdInky/pseuds/WeirdInky
Summary: A week after Larry Johnson's death, heartbroken Sal Fisher decides to move to the city. With only a few of his late boyfriend's and best friend's belongings and his own essentials, he attempts to escape the grievance. But In that attempt to find solitude, he soon learns of the horrors that took place in the apartments only weeks after moving. Todd Morrison, receives the insanity plea after the mass killing of every resident at Addison Apartments.The added weight of the situation only made matters worse the moment the blunette discovers he had something growing inside him. Initial thoughts involved a tumor, or some form of   parasite, before it was found that it had a heart beat.Years of raising his curious daughter, Diane and scraping by with just the minimum; was a hard life on its own. As time passes and Diane grows into a strong adolescent, things begin to quickly take a turn for the small family- for better or for worse.
Relationships: Sal Fisher/Larry Johnson
Comments: 54
Kudos: 93





	1. Down Memory Lane

Sal was more than exhausted when he reached the top of the stairs, the mask in his hands feeling so oddly light compared to the boxes he had been carrying into his new home. The weight of needing to unpack was heavy, but the unfortunate feeling of needing to sleep overcame his senses. He took a deep breath as he looked at the door to the right of him. The first thing catching his eye was a drawing his 5-year-old daughter drew when she learned they’d be moving out of aunt Ashley’s house into a home of their own. 

You see, life after Larry had really left a mark on Sal. His best friend, the one person he had truly loved and had accepted him, was gone. It was enough of a push for Sal to irrationally run away from his feelings, and grieve on his own.

It had only taken him a week to pack the things he felt like he needed most before moving into the city. He didn’t know if it was a blessing or a curse that he had moved the week after Larry’s death, due to the fact that everyone he knew was gone. All killed by his best friend, Todd, in some type of manic rage. He felt devastated, like he should have been there with them. He could have stopped it, but how would he have known? It was just unfortunate that he couldn’t help anyone. 

He felt truly and utterly alone. No dad, no Lisa, no Todd, and no Larry. All this weighed heavy on him before another thing was added onto this horrible pile. The complete impossible happened.

He was convinced he had some kind of stomach flu, nothing too major to worry about. At least he thought so, but with Ash being so persistent, he forced himself to see a doctor just to get her to shut up. The word cancer was thrown around a lot in the room, high levels of estrogen in a man was a factor that led physicians to believe he had this appalling disease. He wasn’t ready for that at all. He surely just had some kind of stomach flu and that was it, but he cooperated with any kind of testing they wanted to do on him just to make sure it really wasn’t a death sentence.

When the room heard a rhythmic heartbeat come from the ultrasound machine to check for any kind of mass in his stomach, everyone was bewildered. How could a male be pregnant? There was absolutely no way that this was possible but there it was on the screen. 3 months in was what they told him, that he was 3 months along without even a hint of a thought of it being a baby. 

He wished he had cancer instead.

He was outraged, he was angry, he was embarrassed, he was heartbroken all over again. He became a shut-in after that, refusing to open up to anyone except for Ash- since her phone calls were incessant after the appointment. In truth, if it wasn’t for her, he probably would have starved himself to death. And he would’ve been just fine with letting that be the end of him. 

Neglecting himself became a real issue in those months to come. The thought of just getting rid of this parasite that decided to latch itself to him popped up more than often, just to be able to go on with his life like normal. But this awful little voice in the back of his head was constantly telling him ‘no, don’t do it.’ He knew he would have felt awful knowing he got rid of the one thing that had a part of Larry. He just couldn’t do it.

He shook his head at the recollection of horrible memories as he found himself staring at the poorly drawn picture of him and his daughter by a house that was comically too small for either of them to fit in. He placed the box he was holding on the floor, then put his hand on the door knob and turned it slowly, opening the door as quietly as he could.

He entered his daughter’s room quietly to hopefully find her sleeping. He needed to see something peaceful in that moment, but was instead greeted to the sight of the covers illuminating slightly. He chuckled to himself quietly as he made his way through the mess of things that were yet to be unpacked. He put a hand on what he assumed was the leg of his little girl before opening his mouth to speak. 

“You know you’re up way past your bedtime, little miss Diane,” he said with a soft tone of voice before adding a smile as he waited to see his daughter.

The sound of a light click could be heard muffled underneath the covers before they started to shift. A pair of bright blue eyes looking up at Sal with furrowed brows of worry. The little girl knew she had been caught as she uncovered herself further and sat up in the bed as she stuffed whatever she was looking at under her pillow. Her messy brown hair hitting her shoulders as she looked up at him.

“I’m sorry,” Diane said as she felt slightly ashamed of herself. “I wanted to read some more.” She added quietly as she started to fiddle with the fabric of her blanket.

“One story wasn’t enough?” Sal asked in playful offense as he sat down on the edge of Diane’s bed before putting his mask down on the bed and holding his hand out to her. “Would you like me to read it to you, baby?” He asked sweetly as he waited for his daughter to hand over whatever colourful children’s book she was reading.

Diane continued to mess with the fabric of the blanket, keeping her eyes down to look at her hands watching as she made folds into it. She stopped and looked back up at Sal. “I wasn’t really reading, momma.” She admitted quietly before giving him a slightly nervous smile.

Sal let out a soft sigh, putting his hand down into his lap as he kept his smile. “Then what were you really doing, sweetheart?” He asked as he moved a bit closer to his daughter.

Diane hesitated in shifting herself to reach a hand underneath the pillow again to pull out what she was looking at. At first glance, Sal only saw a blank square of paper before it registered to him as Polaroid Film. He moved closer to his daughter as he wanted to see what picture she happened to have, illuminated by the light of the hallway. He felt his heart ache as he saw the subject.

It was a picture of him and Larry from when their parents got married. They were dancing from the looks of it. The smile on Larry’s face was still very familiar to him, even after years of not seeing it, knowing it appeared in his dreams at night as he slept. He looked at himself in the picture feeling a rush of nostalgia of a time when he was more carefree. No worrying about a child or being a responsible adult. Just having a night of fun, being able to hold his partner close to him.

“Where did you get this from?” He asked as he took the picture into his own hand as he leaned against the wall at the head of her bed. He wrapped a gentle arm around the girl as he continued to look at this old treasure.

“Aunt Ash dropped the box of photos while taking them inside,” Diane started as she leaned into Sal’s side. “She told me not to tattle or you would get reaaaally mad at her. I saw that one and I took it.”

Sal rolled his eye at the thought of Ash, once again, doing something irresponsible. “I wouldn’t have gotten mad, baby,” he chuckled softly as he started to play with Diane’s hair. “I would have teased her a little, but I would like to know when she drops something so maybe I can help too.” He added as he kept looking at the picture, losing himself in it.

Diane moved her eyes from Sal to the picture. She was transfixed on the other man in the image. His grin looked almost exactly like hers when she smiled widely for pictures. “Momma?” She asked lightly after a few seconds of silence had built up.

“Yes, love?” Sal responded as he looked from the picture to his daughter. Those beautiful blue eyes piercing his own.

“What was daddy like?”

Sal felt a tinge of sadness once he heard the question. That shouldn’t be a question any child should ask their parent. ‘What was’ was always the start of a question that was probably a little difficult to answer. He wanted more than anything for his daughter to have already known about her dad, seen him, met him. He put the picture down in his lap and wrapped his other arm around Diane to hug her. He looked up at the ceiling as if he were in deep thought.

“Well, your daddy was really something else,” He started with a light chuckle. He continued to play with her hair as he continued to speak. “He was big and strong, he could have carried three of these boxes and you on top of them without breaking a sweat. He was my protector through most of our high school days. And he had this smile that was really contagious- just like yours, honey. Big and goofy, perfect for any of aunt Ash’s picture day.” He paused as he thought of more to say about Larry, taking a deep breath trying his hardest to keep focus on the positives in his head. 

“Daddy was a bit of a hopeless romantic too. He wasn’t any prince, that’s for sure but he was definitely my knight in shining armor. He would constantly try to make me or your aunt Ash laugh. There are so many stories to tell you about him, baby, but I don’t think I could be able to tell you all of them right now,” he looked down at Diane and smiled softly. “But I could tell you now that I know he would have loved you just as much as I do.”

Diane smiled back up at Sal as she heard the last sentence. It faded away as she looked around her room for a moment. Empty was a good word to describe how this room felt. Yes, boxes were stacked against walls in her room, but none of her toys were on the floor, any dirty clothes in her hamper, or anything in her closet. Easier for monsters to hide. She moved closer to Sal, gaining some comfort from him being in the room with her. 

“Why isn’t daddy here with us?” Diane asked quietly as she looked back up at Sal. “Why did he leave?”

Sal wasn’t quite expecting that question to come this early in his daughter's life. He wasn’t really sure how to handle this situation. How do you tell a 5 year old her father committed suicide? He cursed Larry for a moment for putting him in this situation before taking a deep breath as he tried to collect the words to best explain why.

“You know how you feel when you’re sad, sweetheart?” He asked as he pushed some of the messy hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. “Or when you get a boo-boo?”

Diane paused for a moment before nodding slightly against Sal’s side.

“You feel better after you cry it out or when I kiss it to make it better,” he said softly. “You’re happy afterward and get to go back to playing… Daddy felt that kind of sadness all the time. There was no crying it out to make it better or any boo-boo for me to kiss away. He felt really sad, baby, and he would pretend to be okay so mommy wouldn’t feel sad either.” He explained as he hugged his daughter. “He let sadness take him somewhere he wouldn’t feel it anymore.” 

“So sadness took daddy away?” Diane asked with a child like confusion.

Sal only nodded in response. “Sadness took him away from us.” he said as he tried hard not to let tears fall down his cheeks. He thought he was over the grieving process but damn it, it still hurt to think of the way Larry decided to go. He moved a hand off of his daughter and to his face to wipe away his watery eye.

Diane noticed the tears forming in her mother’s eyes. Her brows furrowed in worry once more, she lifted her head to look him in the eye. “Don’t be sad too, mommy,” Diane said with a tone of panic. “I don’t want sadness taking you away too!”

Sal moved his hand away from his eye as he looked down at his daughter. “Oh Diane,” he said softly. “I’m never gonna let sadness take me away.” He said as he moved his hand to hold her again. “You make me so happy, sweetheart. As long as you're here with me, I’ll always be happy.”

Diane felt a bit more comfort as she was reassured, laying back down to where she was on Sal’s side. “Momma?” She started again.

“Yes, baby?” Sal said, feeling a slight amount of dread as he anticipated for her to ask more questions about Larry.

“Can you stay with me till I fall asleep?” The little girl asked with a wavering voice, hinting that she was scared of whatever dark figures were hanging around her room.

Sal sighed in relief as he heard the question before letting out a small chuckle. “Of course, honey.” He said sweetly as he got a bit more comfortable on the bed. He moved one of his hands to card through the brunette strands of his daughter, humming a lullaby to try to get her to sleep easier. 

Once he heard the soft snores start to escape Diane, he stopped playing with her hair and moved his hand back to the picture in his lap. He picked it up and looked at it for a moment, his thumb moving to touch his lover in the picture.

“You didn’t have to go like that, Lar,” he whispered softly to himself. “I wish I was quick enough to have stopped you.” He added softly as he felt the tear come back to him. 

He held the photo close to his chest, taking deep breaths to stop the tears from coming. He looked down at Diane, seeing her sleeping calmed him down. He smiled slightly as he shifted himself away from the girl gently as if not to stir her awake. Once he was standing beside her bed he leaned down to kiss the top of her head, grabbing his mask from where he had put it down.

“I love you, Diane,” he whispered sweetly. “You make all of this worth it, honey.” 

He moved himself away from the bed and towards the door, taking one last look at his daughter before shutting the door.


	2. A Day In The Life of D

“Ms. Fisher,” a gruff older voice called across the classroom.

D didn’t look up from her notebook, still scribbling doodles on the border of her notes. She was more involved with what was on the page rather than what was being taught in her class.

“Ms. Fisher!” The teacher called in a harsher tone.

D scrambled to look up at the front of the classroom, hearing a few giggles escape her fellow classmates around her. “Yes, Mr. Sodder?” She asked softly, completely embarrassed.

“Could you tell me what we were discussing, Ms. Fisher?” Mr. Sodder asked as he cocked his brow, waiting for an answer to come from the teenage brunette.

D thought for a moment, realizing she wasn’t even paying attention. She decided maybe her notes could help in this time of need. “The Great Depression?” She asked with an unsure tone and gave a nervous smile. A few more chuckles seemed to have filled the room.

Mr. Sodder sighed and opened his mouth to answer before hearing the bell go off. The loud ring drowning out the noises of backpacks and shoes shuffling. “Homework for the weekend,” Mr. Sodder started loudly so his students could hear. “Pages 97 and 98.” He paused to look at Diane. “In your math textbook.”

D felt her face flush in further embarrassment before shutting her notebook, seeing she had indeed grabbed the wrong notebook. This was Algebra 2, Not American history. She sighed as she put her things away.

She made her way out of the classroom, more than relieved that it was the end of the day. She was free to do whatever she wanted once she was out of this hell hole of a property. But first, she had to grab things that wouldn’t normally fit her in her backpack when it was filled with textbooks.

As she was lost in thought, she felt her shoulder bump with another kid. “Oh, sorry,” she said quickly but sincerely.

“Watch it, Pinocchio,” the kid sneered back, not even turning to look at Diane as they continued on their way.

“Oh,” D whispered softly to herself before continuing to her locker, putting her hand to her nose as if to check if it was really that long. She knew she had inherited her dad’s nose, but hearing ‘Pinocchio’ often made her slightly ashamed of it.

She shook her head as she tried to shake the thought away, instead thinking of wanting to be more proud of her features as she made her way to her locker. Setting her bag on the ground, she twisted her combination into the lock to pull down on the cold metal handle to open. She smiled slightly at the few pictures she had in her locker. A few of her and Ash when they were just bored, making goofy faces at each other while trying to make the other laugh. And one of her and her mom. The emotionless expression of the mask in every picture always made him seem cold. But this one was an exception. This one she could see through the eye holes of the mask to notice his eyes crinkling. 

He was definitely happy in this one.

She was brought out of these thoughts as soon as she felt her bag being pulled by the straps. She moved her foot to stop it, closing her locker slightly only to be greeted by a heavily make-uped face. Diane felt her heart drop as she knew what this meant. The slam of metal behind her made her jump before turning around to see another heavily make-uped face, but this one was way too familiar to her. “Can we not today, Janis?”

The blonde haired girl kept her sinister smile, removing manicured claws off of the locker beside Diane. She examined them for a moment, as if checking to see if they were sharp enough for a kill. “Poor Ghostfreak,” she said through a chuckle. “No plans this weekend right? Unless you call sitting in a treehouse alone ‘plans’.” She added as her brown eyes moved up from her nails to D, smirk growing wider as she heard her friend snicker. 

D furrowed her brow before she took a deep breath, bending down to grab things to put away. “No, no, that’s next weekend,” she said as she straightened back out and started to place her textbooks into their weekend prison. “This weekend is the monthly summoning circle for us witches,” she joked before looking at Janis and wiggling her fingers like she was casting a spell once her hands were free. “The elders said if I was a good little witch all month and gave my daily sacrifice of lamb, that maybe I’d be able to throw a curse or two your way.” D sassed as she started to pick up her bag, only to feel it being slapped out of the hand. The contents spilling out at her feet.

Janis got into Diane’s face, her brows furrowed downward hard and a scowl now on her face. She stared for a moment before her smirk returned. “You wish you were part of a group, don’t you Pinocchio?” The blonde snidely asked. “But nobody wants trash, not even your dad. That’s why he killed himself, right? To get away from you and the grotesque, faceless thing you call a ‘mother’.” She moved her face closer to whisper in Diane’s ear. “Why don’t you just follow in daddy’s footsteps already?”

D stood silently for a moment, feeling that if she were to move, another horrible remark would sink its teeth into her. She was relieved when she felt Janis back away and a sigh escaped when she heard her and her friend laughing behind her, the sound growing quieter in the sea of chatter.

D stared down at her things laying messily on the ground at her feet, her hair falling into her face as she did so. The first thing she noticed was the corner of her Ouija board box bent in from how hard it hit the ground. She let out a breath as she tucked her hair behind her ear before bending down to stuff it into the backpack again. She stood back up, slinging the bag over her shoulders, shutting the locker and locking it again.

She made her way down the hall to the front doors of the school, feeling a weight being lifted off her shoulders as she felt the fresh air hit her face. All she had to do was make it to her bike and she’d be free of torment for a few days. She started to make her way down the steps before she stopped abruptly .

“Hey freak!” Diane heard on the right of her. She flinched, almost readying herself for an onslaught of more horrible things before turning her head to see her verbal attacker. Only to realize, it wasn’t directed at her.

4 boys stood in the grass, 3 of them surrounding the one against the wall. D recognized the one boy as Weston. She could easily tell from the orange hair and big rimmed glasses that it was him. She felt even worse knowing what was about to come his way. Life definitely isn’t easy for the child of a murderer.

“Where’s burden-baby heading to?” One of the boys teased. “You’re not about to head home without a little rough housing with your friends before the weekend, right?” The boy asked as he inched himself closer to Weston.

Diane was caught totally off guard when Weston’s eyes locked onto hers, staring for a moment. She was watching him silently plead, begging for her help through the look in his eyes. She honestly really considered it. Walking over to those bozos and calling them out for being such asses to a kid who isn’t responsible for his parents actions. But in reality, Diane gave an apologetic look to a fellow misfit before continuing her way to her bike in the same manner a dog would walk with its tail between its legs. She knew if she were to help, her torment and torture would only get worse.

D could hear the faint laughter of the boys as she made her way to unlock her bike.

********************************************************************************************

D slowly peddled up to her destination, looking up at the crackling, graffitied building. A shiver always went down her spine when she came close to Addison Apartments. The whole area was walled off by a chain linked fence and a sign that read ‘private property’. But she wasn’t aiming to try to get in for the billionth time, not this time, at least.

She got off her bike and led it around the perimeter of the fence til she found the hole in it that her and Ash made so many years ago when they first visited. She smiled widely as she saw the treehouse in the distance. Maybe today was the day she could get some kind of sign from Larry.

She looked around for a long moment, finding a bush near the edge of the woods to haphazardly hide her bike in. She walked around the bush, making sure from all angles that it wouldn’t be spotted. When she was happy with the result, she started to make her way back to the hole in the fence.

Diane crouched and ducked her head so she could easily fit through without catching her beanie on the hook like edges or scrapping up her bag. Her electric blue eyes trailed up to look at the treehouse once she was on the other side, adjusting the bag by the straps as she started to walk to the towering treehouse. Her eyes stayed on the small house in the tree as she got close, only till her neck hurt looking at it did she look away.

Once she made it to the ladder, she gripped the splintering slats as she started to make her way up. Maybe replacing these before they get even worse was in her thoughts as she made her way up. She peered inside, twisting her head around to make sure no one else was up here with her. Another smile forming on her face once she saw it was clear.

“Well,” she said to the empty air of the treehouse, pushing herself inside. “Today gonna be the day you talk back?” She asked pausing for a moment, as if she were waiting for a response.

Only silence replied back as she took off her backpack and set it against the wall, unzipping it and pulling out the Ouija board.

“It’s alright if you don’t wanna today,” D said as she made her way to the middle of the floor. “I’ll just talk your ear off till you tell me to shut up.” She chuckled as she sat down and set the box on the floor. She crossed her legs as she pulled the lid off the box.

“Ash has been doing great lately.” She started as she put the lid to the side. “Photography seems to be booming. Mainly weddings but you should see her face when she gets a call from a convention center.” She snorted as she grabbed the board and planchette from the box before pushing the rest of the box to the side.

“Mom’s doing a little better than last week too,” D added as she unfolded the board and set it down gently. “Remember how I said he wasn’t sleeping the best for a couple of weeks now? Well the last couple of nights he hasn't woken up from a bad dream,” she said excitedly as her smile grew wider. “We’re thinking it was the weird pain medication the doctor prescribed that was the culprit since he stopped taking it.” She shrugged as she put the planchette onto the board.

D was about to put her hands on it before stopping. Maybe a change of routine could help? She lifted her hand to show she wasn’t even going to bother with touching it. 

“Let’s see if you can move it without my help,” Diane said with an amused tone before leaning back on the palm of her hands.

She tilted side to side on her palms of her hands as she started to think on what she should talk about.

“Sooo,” she started off. “...You know my birthday is on Tuesday, right? You gonna get me anything?” She asked the board jokingly. The planchette didn’t move, not a single inch.

“Yep, the big ol’ one - six,” she added as she took a deep breath. “Don’t know why any other girls make such a big deal out of it.” She sighed. “Other girls have huge parties and friends that’ll gift them lame things… I guess the coolest thing for me is that I’m getting my drivers license… mom said you liked driving a lot, did you?”

She once again stared at the board, smiling in anticipation for something to happen. Seeing that it didn’t move, she decided to continue on.

“He says he misses some of those long car rides,” D said as she looked around the room. “The late night ones were his favorite. He’d talk non-stop about how you guys would stick your heads out the window just to feel the rush of wind through your hair… well, at least, you did.” She added with a giggle before looking back down at the board. Still nothing.

Her smile went away for a moment before she sat with her hands moved to her lap. She stayed quiet for a long moment as she stared at it. “Did… Did you really… kill yourself to get away from mom?” She asked slightly somber. She looked down at her hands to start picking at her nail polish. “There’s something this girl said to me that’s kinda bugging me… I know she’s said it for years and mom says it’s absolutely not true… but,” she sighed. “Is that why you won’t answer back? Cause you're ashamed to have a kid like me?” She asked as she stared at the board once more.

She let out a defeated sigh before smiling and shaking her head, clearing whatever was going on in there. “It’s okay,” she added as if she were trying not to hurt someone’s feelings. “You don't have to answer me if you don’t want to. Now might not even be the best time.” She tilted her head and smiled at the board. “Take your time. I’ll be up here every weekend and I think you know that.” She chuckled. 

“I’m patient.”


	3. Let's Just Talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This lovely art was made by my friend Chimeramix! Check them out here: https://www.instagram.com/chimeramix/ or here: https://aminoapps.com/c/sface/page/user/ietierspeciesix/qkex_N5BsYfnPn6wNYWeo88RwPx6BgYj0rVFg

Sal was sitting at the dining room table, silently contemplating about the day. He would have gone to bed with how exhausted he felt, but finding the house empty caused him to stay up. He couldn’t help but feel a little anxious when his daughter wasn’t home when he was. He knew she would go to the treehouse and he wished that she didn’t.

This was almost a weekly occurrence. Every Friday or Saturday, Diane would pack her bag for her attempts to talk to his dead lover and pretend like she wasn’t. Maybe to save him from heartbreak or to stop herself from getting in trouble, who knows? But what Sal knew was that he didn’t like it, not one bit. Ever since Ash told her ‘where sadness took daddy’, she had been so interested in visiting that horrible place. He was still a little mad at the fact that she gave his little girl hope of talking to her dead dad. That wasn’t Ash’s right at all to do that.

His brow stayed furrowed in thought as he tapped at the wood of the table, making a dull tinking noise before he was stopped by a louder sound, the sound of the front door opening and closing.

“Diane?” He called out. “That you honey?”

He turned hoping to see his daughter and instead was greeted by the short haired brunette with stunning green eyes. Her light chuckle was something nice to hear rather than being in silence for longer. “Nope, but thanks for calling me ‘honey’.” Ash teased slightly as she moved to sit down next to the blunette. “How you holding up?” She asked as she let out a relaxed sigh.

Sal scoffed lightly as he kept his eye on Ash as she moved. “Same as last week and the week before,” he said as he stared at the table again. “Tired and trying my best.”

Ash leaned back in her chair and nodded her head in understanding. “I would have expected you to have been in bed by now. Drooling on your pillow and moaning out celebrities' names.” She teased again.

Sal rolled his eyes. “Sleep-talk one time and you’ll never hear the end of it.” He mumbled quietly before chuckling. “But I can’t. Have a kid to wait up and worry for.” He added as he looked toward the front door again. “She’s been out of school for a couple hours now. Thought she would’ve at least started to make her way home by now.” He said as he let out a breath.

“Dude, you know how she is.” Ash said with a small smile. “She’s gonna fuck around for a few hours before coming home and boring herself to death browsing the internet.” She snorted. “I bet you she’s on her way home now and you’re just worrying over nothing.”

Sal sighed as he looked back at Ash. “I know but I can’t help it.” He said with a shrug “I won’t feel better till she’s home, where I can watch her bore herself to death.” He chuckled as he looked back at the table. “I hope she didn’t have another bad day at school.”

“Travis’ kid is fucking with her again?” Ash asked with a scoff. “I swear to god, if that little towhead bimbo hasn’t sto-”

“Chill, Ash,” Sal warned. “Diane’s a tough girl, she can handle herself.” He said softly before pushing himself away from the table and looked at Ash. “You want something to drink? Coffee? Water?” He asked as he made his way toward the kitchen.

“You didn’t offer me soda,” Ash pouted playfully before snorting. “Water’s fine. Coffee will keep me up all night and then I’ll get inspired. And when I get inspired, I don’t usually sleep… or eat… or talk to anyone for days.” She chuckled as she watched from the dining room Sal preparing himself coffee.

Sal chuckled slightly as he shook his head. “That’s so unhealthy Ash.” He said as he put the coffee filter into the coffee pot.

Ash chuckled as she sat in silence for a long moment, furrowing her brow in thought. “Isn’t her birthday coming up? In like 5 days?” She asked as she shifted her brow from furrowing to a cocked brow. “Do you know what you’re gonna get her?” 

He scooped the coffee grounds and poured them into the filter as he heard the questions come from Ash. Sal shrugged once again as he looked over to the brunette in the other room. “I’ve asked her what she wants but she’s been giving me fake answers like ‘a pony’ or ‘a shiny new bike’.” He said with a slight shake of his head. “Honestly thought she was gonna ask for a car or money. You?” He asked as he grabbed the glass pot and brought it over to the sink.

She smirked proudly as she looked around the dining room. “Unlike you, I know exactly what I’m getting her.” She said with a playful tone. “She’s been talking me ear off about this thing called an EMF meter and another thing called a Spirit Box. The Spirit Box sounded a little dumb but the EMF thing seems like something that will give some type of result she’s looking for.” She shrugged. “Maybe as a gift you could go looking for ghosts with your kid.” She suggested, hoping it wouldn’t cause some type of fight.

He let out a sigh and shook his head as he turned the faucet off. “You know I don’t do that kinda shit anymore Ash.” He said as he turned back to the coffee pot and poured the water into the back of the machine. “My ghost hunting days are done and honestly yours should be too.” He added as he set the pot on the burner and turned on the coffee pot. He then moved to the cabinet to grab a glass for Ash.

Now it was Ash’s turn to roll her eyes. “Don’t you miss having a mystery to solve?” She asked as she leaned forward to rest her elbows on the table. “Being able to walk around with a partner in crime behind you while you both uncover something big?”

Sal felt a slight tinge of pain in his chest causing him to pause in his actions. He took a deep breath before continuing to move. “I don’t,” He admitted as he turned to the fridge. “I wasted my time with something that was obviously bigger than all four of us and look at us now. Those things had consequences on all of us and I’d rather not be reminded about it all.” He said as he turned off the faucet and made his way into the dining room again. He set the glass in front Ash. “Have you visited Neil lately?” Sal asked a little curiously.

Ash nodded as she stared at the glass. “Yeah, He’s been doing much better. He’s been visiting Todd a bit more often now that Wes has been asking a little more about him.” She let out a sigh. “He’s been claiming that sometimes he swears Todd can understand him. Like he’s lucid for a few moments while he talks to him.” She watched as the blunette sat down again. “Why don’t you talk with him anymore? Hell, even Maple asks about you from time to time.”

He crossed his arms as he leaned back into his chair. “I dunno,” he admitted softly. “I don’t wanna interrupt their lives with a quick ‘hello’. It might also be the fact that I don’t want to be reminded of the things I could have stopped if I had stayed instead of running away like a heartbroken coward.”

She furrowed her brow in worry as she let out a long breath through her nose. “You know that shit wasn’t your fault, dude,” she said softly as she grabbed the glass and slid it closer to her. “I think it would have still happened if you were here. I’m actually really glad that you’re still here.” She said as he brought the glass to her lips. “I don’t think the lone wolf is my kinda style.”

He chuckled lightly before shaking his head. “I dunno Ash,” he said in a playful tone. “Lone wolf would be kinda cool for you. You already got the badass style and motorcycle.” he joked through his chuckle.

Ash was about to respond before hearing the front door open and close. She turned around in her seat to be greeted with the teen kicking off her shoes at the door. “Well would you look at that,” She said with a slight chuckle as she set the glass down on the table and leaned back. “My little gremlin is finally home safe.”

Diane looked up, a little surprised to hear her aunt’s voice. “Ash,” She said happily as she made her way through the living room to the little dining room area, throwing her backpack on the couch as she walked by. “I didn’t know you were stopping by, I would have come home a lot sooner.” She added as she leaned down and opened her arms to hug Ash

Ash smiled as she opened her own arms to hug Diane.“I was in the neighborhood and wanted to see how you and your mom were doing,” she said as she hugged the other brunette.

D pulled away from the hug after a moment and leaned down again to kiss Sal on the cheek. “Nice to see you awake momma,” she said as she stood back up to head into the kitchen.

He smiled at the kiss on his cheek, feeling much better now that his daughter was home before turning to look at her as she searched in the kitchen. “How was school today?” He asked as he put his hand under his chin.

“It was good,” D said without hesitation as she opened up cabinets. “Nothing too exciting happened. Mr. Turpin has been a little harsh on the freshmen that just joined in and putting a lot of them in the pit.” She said as she grabbed a bag of chips from the cabinet.

“Put those back,” Sal warned. “I’m about to make dinner and I don’t want you spoiling it on chips.”

D looked over to the adults at the table and pouted her bottom lip out. “But mooooom,” she playfully whined. “I’m hungry now.” she added in the same tone.

“Come on, Sal,” Ash said as she gestured to the teen in the kitchen. “She hasn’t eaten yet and I’m sure she’ll eat all her dinner, isn’t that right Diane?” She said in a tone, like talking to a toddler.

“Oh yeah, I’ll finish dinner, no problem,” D said with a nodding of her head. “I’ll only eat a few and then put the bag right back.”

Sal let out a breath as he heard the begging coming from Diane, shaking his head slightly. “Alright, but only a few.” He said as he leaned back into his chair. “So how many people are gonna be on the field with you?” He asked referring to the previous subject.

D smiled widely as she made her way into the dining room and sat down next to Sal. “In the snare section with me, only 4 other guys.” she said as she opened the bag of chips.

Ash nodded before snorting. “Any of them hitting on you?” She asked with a cocked brow and coy smile. 

Diane scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Nope,” she said as she tossed a chip into her mouth. “None of those boys know what true beauty looks like.” She joked as she chewed.

Sal and Ash both chuckled lightly before Ash opened her mouth to speak. “So what were you doing that made you come home late?” She asked a little curious as to what lie she was going to use this time.

D shrugged. “Some kid needed help with homework and a teacher asked me to help tutor. She wasn’t getting the material at all, that’s why it took so long.” she said as she stuffed her hand into the chip bag again.

Sal shook his head slightly at the fact that she was lying to him again. “Well, I’m sure you tried your best honey.” He said as he pushed himself from the table again, hearing the bubbling sound coming from the coffee pot. He made his way back into the kitchen.

Ash watched as he got up and made his way into the kitchen before leaning forward a bit to whisper to Diane. “You excited for your birthday?”

D was a little surprised to hear the other brunette whisper, smirking slightly as she leaned in as well. “You know it,” She whispered back. “We really gonna spend the night in the treehouse? Think mom will be mad about it?” She asked, cocking her brow.

Ash blew a raspberry as she chuckled. “Of course we are, it’s what you wanted to do,” She whispered through her chuckle. “And don’t worry about your mom, kiddo. You’re not gonna get into trouble over this” She said with a sweet smile.

D smiled widely, knowing it was going to be the funnest night she’s gonna have in a long while. Even if they weren’t going to successfully get Larry to show, It’d still be a fun night with Ash. One that she hadn’t had in a long time due to life getting in the way. “Sweet.” She said as she leaned back in her chair. “I’ll make sure to drop off sleeping bags next time I go.”

Ash chuckled as she leaned back in her own chair as Sal came back into the room with his mug of coffee.

Sal looked between the two a little confused after seeing them both leaning back. “Did I miss anything?” He asked with a cocked brow.

Ash shook her head. “You didn’t miss anything, just a little bit of girl gossip.” She said as she winked at the teen across the table. “So what’s for dinner?”


	4. Birthday Surprise

Tuesday started like any other day. Wake up, make breakfast, head to school, be tortured by hours of boring class work, hear a few snide remarks from Janis, and head home. Diane didn’t bother stopping by the treehouse knowing that she would be there later, hopefully with a new Ouija board since the one in her locker was starting to peel away from the cardboard it was glued to.

D jammed her key into the door knob, trying her best to get it in right before turning it. She opened the door and shut it behind her. “Mom?” she called out hoping that maybe Sal was home early. When she was greeted with silence, she sighed as she took off her shoes and put her backpack on the couch. She plopped down next to the bag on the couch, leaning back and keeping her eyes up at the ceiling for a long moment. 

She didn’t feel like this was any kind of special day, it felt like any other day. The only difference was that she was a whole year older. No new responsibilities, nothing changed at school. She was just Diane. The girl who was just trying her best to slip by the shitty years of high school and move away the instant she was accepted into any college outside of this small town.

D closed her eyes for a moment as she got lost in these thoughts before hearing a chime go off in her pocket. She was greeted with her case first, the sticker of Jason Voorhees scratched and ripped surrounded by little cartoon ghosts scattered around the mask, before flipping it over to look at her screen. The contact ‘Best Auntie Ever’ with several emojis after the name appeared on the screen. She kinda regretted letting Ash type that into her phone, but never bothered to change it out of sheer laziness.

She looked at the actual message underneath the vomit emoji.

[Happy 16th, Gremlin!] 

A scoff left D’s mouth as she moved to get more comfortable on the couch, resting her head on her lumpy bag and swiping the message to reply to it.

[Thanks for the birthday wishes]

She let the phone drop onto her chest as she let out a deep breath. That was the first one she heard from anyone. She guessed in the rush of things, her mom forgot to leave a note or even wake her before leaving. She didn’t blame him. She knew things were tough and that he had to do everything to provide. Maybe she could get a job instead of taking the small commissions she would get for doodles of other people's characters. Her thoughts were interrupted again by another chime. She lifted her phone off her chest to look at the screen again.  
[Ready 4 2night? Lots of spooky things r gonna happen.]

She rolled her eyes before texting back.

[Yeah I’m ready]

She thought for a moment after sending that text before replying with another.

[Sleeping bags have been up there since Saturday and the only thing that’s gonna be spooky is the silence we’re gonna get]

D sighed as she stood up from the couch and stretched, deciding to grab a snack before Sal got home to scold her for ruining her dinner. She held her phone in her hand as she moved into the kitchen in hopes that maybe there were some chips left. As she was opening cabinets she heard another chime go off.

[Oh we’re gonna get more than silence this time, little Di-Di. Did u at least say hi 2 ur dad for me? :)]

D stopped in her hunt for food to read the message. She let out a disappointed breath at the nickname she got when she was a toddler. At least it was better than Ghost Freak…

[What makes you say that? And of course I’ll say hi from you. I always try to]

She set the phone on the counter before smiling to herself at the sight of a crumply plastic bag with colorful decal on it. She reached in and grabbed it, holding it in one hand and taking her phone with her through the living room. She started to climb up the stairs and stopped in front of her bedroom door, staring at the poster of ‘The Thing’ for a moment as she moved the phone to the hand holding the chips so she could open her door.

The room was a slight mess, some sketchbooks scattered on the floor along with some dirty clothes. She didn’t bother in closing the door behind her as she knew she had maybe 30 more minutes of solitude, falling onto her bed back first. She felt the vibration in her hand this time before the chime could even sound off.

[Just w8 4 2night. Ur gonna love ur gift! ;)]

D smiled slightly as she started to reply back, letting the bag sit on her bed as she typed.

[Now I’m more curious on what you got me. Love you, Ash. See you tonight]

She moved her hand to the chip bag to take off the clip holding the bag closed. She was a little surprised at how quickly the next message came. She looked at the screen of her phone and smiled again.

[Love you too, Diane. I’ll see you soon. <3]

*********************************************************************************************************

D sat in a dark room at her spot at the kitchen table, her elbow resting on the table to hold up her chin as she waited for her mom to re-enter the room with a cake. She looked over to the silhouette of Ash before whispering. “You guys don’t have to do the birthday song every year.” 

Ash scoffed at the words that came out of Diane’s mouth. “Of course we do, rugrat,” she chuckled. “It’s your special day. Besides, it’d be awkward to come out with your cake all silent.”

“Ash, you ready?” Sal called from the kitchen as he finished lighting the candles.

“Yeah, we are,” Ash called back before chuckling and grabbing her camera sitting on the table. “Sit up, smile, and don’t look so bored.” She instructed the teen as she lifted the camera to her face.

Diane groaned as she brought her hand away from her face and rested it in her lap as she waited to hear the familiar tune. A tune that Sal would sing perfectly fine but Ash would choose to put her own goofy twist to. She sat with a soft smile on her face as she listened to the two adults singing and the snaps coming from Ash’s camera.

Once the song was over and the cake was set down in front of her, D’s eyes stayed on the two lit candles in front of her. The waxy white number on the cake barely started to melt before she made her wish and blew out her candles.

A few cheers left the mouths of the other two in the room as Diane started to chuckle. She looked at her mom and smiled widely. “Gifts please,” She said with a playful impatience.

Sal chuckled as he moved to turn on the lights. “You can’t wait even a minute after blowing out candles?” He asked as he made his way back to the table to sit down next to his daughter. “Who’s present do you want first?” He asked as he gestured between himself and Ash.

D hummed slightly as if she were in deep thought. “I think I wanna open yours first, momma.” She said with a smile.

He smiled as he got up from the table again. “If I knew you wanted your gift from me first I would have brought it in with the cake.” He said as he walked into the kitchen again. 

Ash sat down at the table and put the camera on the table. “The only reason she wants yours first is cause she’s saving the best for last.” She said as she stuck her tongue out toward the kitchen.She then looked at D and smiled. “My gift is waaay better.” She said playfully.

Sal came back into the room, holding a thin, rectangular object wrapped in a light blue paper decorated with cartoony balloons and cakes. He shook his head and furrowed his brow as he handed the gift to Diane. “She’s gonna love both our gifts equally.” He said in an unamused tone.

D chuckled at their bickering as she took the gift from Sal. She inspected it, turning it over in her hands as she tried to guess what it was. “Is it a book?” She asked with playful offense. “You trying to say I should read more?”

Sal smiled and nodded. “It’s a book you’ll like,” He added before gesturing to the present in her hands. “Go on, unwrap it, sweetheart.”

D looked back down at the gift in her hands before tearing into it. Her eyes lit up after seeing the back of it, knowing exactly what it was. She flipped it over and unwrapped it more. It was a Dungeon Master’s Guide for Dungeons and Dragons. “Whoa, No way!” She said excitedly as she set the wrapping paper down on the table. “Momma you didn’t need to get this for me.”

He chuckled and shook his head. “I wanted to get it for you, Diane. Me and Ash were hoping that maybe we’d all do it one night out of the week.” He said as he leaned in to press his torn lips against her cheek. “Love you baby, happy birthday.”

D chuckled as she felt the lips on her cheek. “Thanks momma,” she said cheerfully as she opened it and started to flip through the book. It felt good to have a physical book instead of having to look at her screen, scrolling through a PDF.

Ash blew a raspberry before chuckling. “That’s a pretty good gift,” she said before leaning to the side to grab her gift from underneath her chair. “Buuut you’ll love this one.” She said as she sat upright again and set the small cardboard box down on the table, nudging it slightly toward D.

D scoffed as she stood up from her chair to reach over the cake to grab the box. “Nice job wrapping it.” She said as she sat back down. She furrowed her brow slightly and held it to her ear about to shake it.

“Ah-ah!” Ash said as a warning. “If you break it, the replacement won’t be here for another couple of weeks.” She added with a slight chuckle.

D’s expression turned into a quizzical one as she brought it back down. She picked at the tape on the side until it came up, placing it on top of the wrapping paper on the table before opening the flaps further.

In the box was another small cardboard box wrapped in bubble wrap. She picked it up and pulled at the tape to unravel it, letting it gently tumble in her hand. Once she felt the cardboard of this box, she stuffed the bubble wrap back into the box it came from. She turned the box in her hand to find the white sticker that read ‘KII-B EMF METER WITH LOW VOLUME BUZZER’. 

D’s eyes went wide as she looked at Ash. “You didn’t,” She said before quickly looking back down at the box again. Fumbling with it slightly as Ash began to speak.

“Oh but I did,” she said with a proud tone of voice. “Same brand you showed me and everything and I ordered it just in time for it to arrive on my doorstep this morning, so excuse me for not wrapping it.” Ash added with a slight chuckle.

D finally pulled it out of the box and out of it’s protective plastic pouch. She held it in her hands like it was fine china. The smooth black box with 5 different colors near the top. She put her thumb on the button and pressed it to watch the small lights above the colors glow. Her smile grew wider as she stared at the device. 

“This is awesome, Ash!” She said excitedly as she stood up from her chair to make her way around the table. She quickly wrapped her arms around Ash, laughing and repeating the words “thank you” over and over again.

“No problem, D,” Ash said as she hugged Diane back. “Thank me by testing it out later tonight in a graveyard.” She added as she pulled away from the other brunette.

Sal furrowed his brow slightly at the word tonight. “No,” He said with a slight shake of his head. “Not tonight. It’s a school night.” He said in a stern tone that told D that he was gonna stand his ground on this. She looked from her mom to Ash, wondering how she was gonna get him to budge on this one.

Ash scoffed. “Come on, Sal,” She said light heartedly. “It’s her 16th birthday, let her live a little.” She said as she crinkled her face and ruffled Diane’s hair. “A night with me isn’t gonna kill her. Besides, I’ll make sure she gets up in time for school.”

Sal crossed his arms and gave Ash a look that told her he didn’t want to argue about this. “No, I’m putting my foot down.” He said in a low tone. “You’ve proven that you can’t get her to school on time.”

“But momma,” D whined slightly. “I need to see if it actually works. Come ooooon.” She pouted her bottom lip out and clasped her hand together with the EMF meter still in her hand.

Sal looked at Diane and furrowed his brow. “Diane, you are not to set foot outside that door, tonight. You can go with Ash this weekend to do whatever you want, but tonight you are staying here. End of discussion.”

D’s begging face turned into a pout as she made way to her chair again and plopped down, crossing her arms and keeping the pout as she stared at the cake.

*************************************************************************************************************

Later that night, Diane laid in bed, turning the meter off and on out of sheer boredom and watching the tiny LEDS be the brightest thing in her dark room. She was a little upset with the fact that she couldn’t use this thing till the weekend. That already felt like forever from now. Why did her birthday have to land on a Tuesday?

She continued to press it on and off till she heard the familiar chime coming from somewhere on her bed. She slid her hand around her, feeling all the fabric of her sheets before feeling her phone. D grabbed it and took a deep breath knowing she was about to burn her eyes. She turned on her screen, squinting from the light sting and reading the time and date first. 11:35 Tuesday, August 23.

D blinked a few times to clear the tears from her eyes to read the text message underneath it all.

[You awake, kiddo?]

She furrowed her brow as she set the EMF meter down on the bed before replying to the message from Ash.

[Wide awake]

She had a certain feeling in her gut that told her Ash had some sort of plan. Something that would get her in all sorts of trouble.

[Look outside :)]

Diane furrowed her brow before pushing herself off of the bed. She looked out the window to see Ash standing in front of her motorcycle. She was waving and gesturing for her to come down. She looked down at her phone and started to type away.

[Mom said I can’t set a foot out the front door]

Diane looked up from her phone to watch as Ash looked at her own. She kept her eye trained on her till she heard the chime. 

[He didn’t say anything about a window, did he?]

D opened her mouth, about to audibly object till she closed it again. “Huh,” she whispered to herself before a grin formed on her face.

[No he didn’t]

D looked around the room, rushing to grab what she needed before getting caught. Like she’d even get caught. Sal was dead asleep in the room diagonally from her, and his sleep medication made sure of that. As long as she wasn’t too loud, sneaking out wasn’t a big deal. 

She grabbed the EMF meter off her bed and tried to stuff it into her pocket as best as she could before making her way back to the window. She slid it open and looked down at the ground. It wasn’t too far of a drop if she was careful. D turned around and put her legs out the window first, shimmying herself out bit by bit so till her torso was out the window. She looked around the room once more, making sure she had everything before pushing herself to hang out the window. She looked down at the ground again, finding herself a little closer to it before letting go of it completely falling to her feet. 

She took in air through her teeth as she felt a slight pain in her knees and ankles. After the pain subsided, she stood back up and turned around. She smiled widely as she made her way over to Ash.

“You know mom will kill me if he sees that I’m not in my room, right?” D asked as she got a little closer.

Ash chuckled as she watched the teen make her way over. “You’ll learn it’s better to apologize rather than ask for permission, Lil’ D,” she said as if she were giving her words of wisdom. She held a helmet out to Diane. “You brought the electro… magnetic… whatever whatever, right?” She asked as she cocked her brow.

D took the helmet from Ash and nodded her head, chuckling at the fact that she was two thirds of the way right. “Yeah I have it,” She said as she put the helmet in between her arm and her side. “You have a helmet?” She asked as she moved her hair to sit on the small of her back with the other hand.

Ash furrowed her brow slightly as she moved to the other side of her bike. She looked like she was searching hard before shaking her head and scoffing. “Looks like little Benny took the helmet with him the last time we rode together.” 

Diane looked a little worried. “Maybe we should wait until this weekend then,” She said softly. “When both of us have something to keep our melons from exploding.” She joked as she held the helmet out to Ash.

Ash shook her head and leaned against the bike. “I’m not taking that helmet back till after we come back here from the treehouse.” She said with a furrowed brow and a smirk. “Come on, D, don’t you want some kind of confirmation that your dad’s really in the treehouse?” she asked, knowing that would tempt her into going.

D hummed slightly in thought before sighing. “Alright,” She said before slipping the helmet over her head, lifting up the visor to speak once again. “But go slow and don’t pull any of that wheelie bull shit. I almost fell off the last time.” She chuckled before pulling the visor down again.

Ash smiled and stood up, putting her right hand up and crossing her heart with her other hand. “I cross my heart promise that I will go slow and not pop a wheelie, even though it’s very tempting.” She chuckled before throwing her leg over the seat. “Now get on before morning preferably.” She said as she started the motorcycle.

Diane snorted before getting closer to the other brunette and throwing her own leg over the seat and wrapping her arms around Ash, tightening her hold on her as she felt the bike start to move. 

A few moments passed before Diane could hear Ash speak. “So, you wanna tell me what this whole ‘EMF’ thing does?!” She asked loud enough for D to hear her.

“It reads Electromagnetic fields!” D yelled having to be a little louder due to the helmet. “It reads moving electricity, like in a microwave or a television! Ghost, apparently, can produce a small amount of electricity, which the device can read! I guess it’s kinda like how you told me the Gearboy would react when mom was near a ghost or something paranormal!” She yelled before clearing her throat.

Ash nodded her head in understanding and shook her head. “Wish Sal didn’t throw that fuckin’ thing away!” She said with a scoff. “It would make this shit a whole lot easier!”

“Oh yeah?!” D asked as she looked at the trees they were passing. “Why do you think he threw it away?!”

“He told me it was because it was busted!” Ash scoffed. “I don’t believe that one bit!” She glanced back at the teenager before looking back at the road. “I love your mom and all but damn is he fuckin’ stubborn on telling you anything!”

D furrowed her brow slightly as he looked at the back of the brunette’s head. “What do you mean?!”

She saw Ash turn her head back slightly as if she were going to answer her question before a sound loud enough to break eardrums silenced her. That and bright lights is all Diane can remember from that night.


	5. The Funeral

The funeral was really beautiful in a way, but Diane knew this wasn’t how Ash would have wanted to go. 

She would hear Ash talking about being set ablaze and pushed out to sea like the Vikings used to do for their loved ones. When D would ask why, Ash would just laugh and say that was the badass way to go. Not trapped in some closed casket under the dirt to become a snack for worms.

It was unfortunate that the casket had to be closed for the service, Ash’s family just couldn’t bear to see her face like that. After skidding 5 feet on asphalt, there was no amount of makeup that could cover the gruesome mess. 

Diane felt like this was completely her fault, but Sal kept reassuring her that it wasn’t. 

It was the drunk driver who was going almost 50 on a 25 road, not even thinking about stopping at the red octangular sign. But maybe if she had listened to her mom and stayed home, they wouldn’t have been out just in time for that car to hit them. The accident only left D scuffed and bruised but it left Ash drowning in her own blood and dead within minutes.

Some people at the service looked familiar, others were complete strangers to D. She stayed quiet and stood close behind Sal like a lost little puppy. She didn’t want to stray too far from him nor did she want to say anything that could upset anyone else. 

She didn’t feel like she even deserved to be there. D’s heart was broken, losing her only friend that she had. She didn’t deserve to grieve like these other people around her, she couldn’t give anyone condolences without the heavy feeling of guilt killing her.

The car ride home was silent, with Diane staring out the window as Sal drove. There weren’t any words exchanged between the two, A few times D would hear the opening of her mom’s mouth, never really seeing it due to the mask covering his face, only to hear it close again. It was only when they pulled into the driveway and Sal had parked the car when he fully committed to talking.

“You feeling okay, honey?” He asked softly. 

D only nodded as she unbuckled her seat belt, keeping her face away. She was less than okay. She felt like she could break at any moment, that speaking would cause her to break down into a messy puddle of tears and snot. She put her hand on the door handle and started to push the door open, before feeling a gentle hand on her shoulder.

“Sweetheart,” Sal started softly. “You can’t just bottle up what you’re feeling. I don’t want you dealing with these emotions alone.” He took in a deep breath. “We both lost someone very dear to us, so why don’t we talk through it?”

D stayed silent, staying still for a moment before pushing the car door fully open. “I’m fine, momma,” she said softly. “I just need some sleep, I’m really tired.” It was hard to even push those words out without letting a sob sneak it’s way in. She stepped out of the car and shut the door behind her.

Sal stayed in the car for a moment, trying his best to compose himself. He hated the fact that she was trying to hide her feelings. He knew what it was like to grieve. He was more than familiar with it. Losing his mom, then Larry, then a few weeks later, everyone else he knew when he moved here. And now the only friend he had left. Gone. He truly felt like he was alone. No one to fall back on or talk to when things got rough. He had to deal with this all by himself and it hit him full force while sitting in the driveway.

But he couldn’t break down right now, no matter how hard he wanted to he couldn’t just cry and scream at the world. He had someone who needed comfort even if they acted like they didn’t, he had time to cry later. He lifted his mask to wipe a few tears from his eyes and sniffled once, before pulling his mask back down and opening his car door. 

D had already made her way into the house and was making her way up the stairs when she heard the front door open and close. She didn’t bother in turning around to look at her mom as she continued up the stairs. She slowly made her way into her room, the mess that greeted her when the door opened wasn’t an unfamiliar sight.

These 2 weeks had been so unfriendly to D. The first couple of days after the accident were blank spaces in her memory and she was fine with that. She’d rather not remember the initial pain of losing her best friend. The week and some couple of days after that have been spent in here, only leaving to use the bathroom and to grab something small to eat. She felt more than lost in this sea of emotions that kept hitting her; wave after wave. She honestly wished she was asleep right now, but she couldn’t escape into her mind either. The awful sounds of tires skidding- cars shrieking as they collided and the bright lights would make her jump awake.

D sighed as she made her way to her desk, really unsure what to do with herself at this moment. She wanted something to take her mind off of all this, give her a false sense of everything being okay. She sat in front of the desk that seemed to have a mountain of trash on it, staring at it for a moment. Maybe she could focus on cleaning her room a little bit after she got out of this stupid dress, but right now she had the need to see the stained wood of her workspace.

She moved the dirty plates and balled up chip bags to her bed, setting them there as their temporary home. She continued to move things, setting them somewhere close before moving a crumpled piece of paper and pausing for a moment. She stared at the EMF meter she thought was lost when she was thrown from the motorcycle.

D picked it up like she had the first time out of the box, staring at it for a much longer moment. Her brow furrowed as she was now trying to remember when she set this down on her desk, getting a headache from thinking so hard on it. She shook her head as another thought came into her mind. 

What if Ash wasn’t truly gone? What if D could talk to her again, apologize for taking her up on her offer? Diane held the box tightly in her hands as the thoughts continued to race through her head. Ash and her weren’t far from the tree house when they crashed. They were practically there, an intersection just a 2 stops away from the treehouse. Maybe she was at the treehouse with her dad, seeing him for the first time in years...

That thought caused Diane to stand up from her chair and look up from her hands to the door. She felt herself moving on her own without really feeling like she was in control of it. She threw her door open again before jumping at the sight of her mom standing there in the position to knock. And from his eyes, he looked just as surprised as she did. She moved the black box behind her back, knowing he wouldn’t be on board with the idea of communicating with her dead relative right after their funeral.

“Uh, hi honey,” Sal said as he was getting over the shock of seeing her right there. “You have a few to sit and talk?”

D stared at Sal for a moment, the question making her irrationally mad due to her being on a mission. “Not really,” She said as she looked at the ground. “I’m a little busy with something.” 

Sal cocked his brow behind his mask as he heard ‘little busy’ left her mouth before looking past her and seeing the garbage on her bed and her desk cleared off a little bit. He was a little more surprised by it. “Sweetheart, we don’t have garbage bags,” He said as he looked back at Diane. “I was gonna head out to get some a little later.”

D’s eyes widened as she heard that. It’s like pieces were falling perfectly into place, like the universe was wanting her to do this. “I could go to the store right now.” She offered quickly before looking at her mom. “Uh, I mean, I just wanna really clean my room right now.” She added hoping that didn’t sound too weird or suspicious. 

Sal stared at Diane for a long moment as she seemed to be begging to go. “Let me grab my keys and we could-”

“No,” D said, shaking her head quickly. “I meant I could go get it by myself. I could ride my bike to the store and just grab them for you.” She clarified a little better, really wanting to do this by herself. She needed to, just to have the chance to talk to Ash again.

Sal stared back at his daughter. He couldn’t help but feel a slight ache in his heart as she denied him going with her. Then again, his grieving process was the same thing when he lost Larry. He moved away to just be alone and away from people that would remind him about the loss. Maybe this was part of hers. 

He sighed as he shook his head slightly. “Get change first,” He said softly as he reached into his pocket for his wallet. “Wearing a dress while riding your bike isn’t the smartest plan.” he added as he pulled his card from his wallet and held it out to his daughter. “Trust me, I would know.”

D stared at the card before taking it gently from him, a little surprised that this even worked. “Yeah, I’ll get changed,” she said softly before looking back up at Sal, giving him a slight smile. “I love you, momma.”

Sal smiled back lightly as he moved in to hug Diane, his arms wrapping around her shoulders. “I love you too, Diane.” he said sweetly before pulling away from the teen and placing his hand on her cheek. “With all my heart.” He added before letting his hand fall away from her face before moving away from her door. “To the store and right back.” He said as he moved to his own room. “And you don’t have to get just garbage bags.” 

Diane waited by her door watching as he moved to his room and waited till he closed his door before heading out of hers. Fuck changing into new clothes, she needed to know if her plan was going to work now. 

She rushed down the stairs, keeping the card tightly against the black box as she rushed through the living room to the front door. D opened the door with her free hand and closed it behind her as she quickly made her way to the side of the house where she usually parked her bike. She felt her concentrated face turn into one of anger and annoyance. 

There sat her bike lock and chain that kept her bike attached to the chain link fence to the backyard, but no bike. From a glance, It looked as if someone took a bolt cutter to it and just cut the chain. Diane brought her hand to her face and pulled down on it. What shitty luck? But that wasn’t going to stop her. 

She looked down at her shoes, knowing flats weren’t meant to be used as running shoes. She took a deep breath and looked toward the sidewalk adjacent from her house. It wasn’t that far of a run from her to the treehouse. So she bolted from the side of the house to run down the sidewalk.

It didn’t take her even 10 minutes to make her way to the treehouse, her heart racing from the combination of excitement and running all the way here. She ran along the side of the fence that had the hole cut into it, not being careful at all this time as she pushed the fencing out. She felt the metal scrap on her arm as she bruted herself through only to continue running to the treehouse. She breathed heavily as he stuffed the box and the card between her teeth and started to climb up the slats of the tree quickly, faster than she has ever before.

She pushed herself into the treehouse, breathing heavily as she moved to sit in the chair against the wall next to the window. She leaned back into it as she pulled the EMF meter out of her mouth to breath easier. She looked around the room and chuckled slightly.

“Now you gotta answer me,” She said to the room around her before holding up the device. “This thing is gonna let me know where you are in the room, mother fucker.” She said with a chuckle. “This fuckin’ thing reads magnetic fields, something you can’t hide or run away from.” She said as she brought it back down to look at. “And if Ash is really here, She’ll stand still for me. Let me know this actually works.” She added as she moved her thumb to the button.

She stared at it with a smirk as she pressed the button. Nothing. Her smirk went away as she wasn’t greeted with the LEDs lighting up. She flipped the device over and ripped open the battery compartment, finding the batteries still in there. “No, no, no.” she said softly to herself as she put the battery cover back on. She pressed the button a few more times in a desperate attempt to get it working again. Each time she hit the button, she was hoping for something to light up, the light buzzing sound it was supposed to make when reading a field, anything. But each time she felt her heart break more and more as she saw it wasn’t responding.

She felt hot tears form in her eyes as she stared at this broken device. Her heart break started to form into something else. A burning wave of anger coursed through her causing her to stand up. She brought her hand back, throwing the EMF down hard on the floor of the treehouse, Sal’s card bouncing on the floor and landing on the other side of the small room. 

“WHY DOES EVERY BAD THING HAVE TO HAPPEN TO US?!” D shouted through her tears, looking down at the blurry black object on the floor. She brought her foot up and stomped down on the plastic, barely hearing it shatter under the full force of her foot. She repeatedly stomped down on it as hard as she could, continuing to yell her words through sobs. “ALL I WANTED TO FUCKING DO WAS TALK TO YOU! I WANTED TO KNOW YOU! BUT YOU DON’T FUCKING EXIST, YOU KILLED YOURSELF WHEN PEOPLE NEEDED YOU THE MOST! WHEN MOM NEEDED YOU THE MOST!” 

She stared down at the broken device, her breaths heavy through her sobs as she fell to her knees. She brought her hands to her face as she sobbed even harder into them. D was breaking down right there. All of the emotions she felt were coming out right here. Everything that piled up over the years, all the torture she endured, all the days she kept her chin up just to make sure she wouldn’t seem miserable to her family, all the inconveniences she felt like she caused collapsed on her. 

“Please,” D mumbled quietly through her sobs, the words leaving her lips so full of emotion. “I just- I need- we need someone- I’m sorry-” She begged through her tears. “I want- things to be okay- I want my- mommy to be- happy again.” Her words died out as she continued to sob for what felt like hours.


	6. Disaster

Two weeks seemed to have passed so quickly in Diane’s eyes, the days melding together after the funeral. School continued to be just as horrible as it was before the funeral. She was trying her best to avoid Janis, not needing that kinda negativity right now in her life. She didn’t need it ever but at this moment in her life, she was ready to break all over.

D was in class once again not paying attention, her pencil tapping dully on the notebook as she was waiting for the horrible buzzing that was an excuse for a bell. Once it rang out, she didn’t even pay attention to the words coming from Mr. Sodder about what was due in the next class. She was in autopilot mode and just stuffed her things in her backpack as they were dismissed. As she walked out of the classroom, she barely noticed that someone was trying to get her attention.

“You’re Diane Fisher, right?”

Diane furrowed her brow as she turned her head slightly to see Weston trying to walk next to her. She was a little surprised to even hear him talk, never really seeing him talk to anyone. “Yeah, I’m D,” She said as she shifted her eyes in front of her, looking out for other kids. This was the worst possible thing that could happen right now. If anyone else even caught a glance of them walking together, she knew her bullying would just get even worse.

Weston nodded slightly and continued trying to walk next to her, not really paying attention to the fact that she was clearly trying to avoid conversation. “How you holding up?” He asked as he pushed his glasses back. “I saw you at the funeral and I noticed you didn’t cry.”

D scrunched her nose at how socially awkward this kid was. You don’t just go up to someone grieving and ask them about why they didn’t cry. She shifted her jaw and shook her head slightly, not wanting to continue this conversation. But he seemed pretty persistent.

“Uh, my dad and Ash were pretty close too,” Weston said trying to continue the conversation. “She’d talk about you and your dad-”

“Mom,” D corrected as she adjusted her backpack on her shoulder. “Sal’s my mom.”

Weston gave her a weird look before shaking his head slightly. “Anyway,” He continued as if she didn’t say anything. “Ash would tell us about how you guys were doing. She said you liked ghost hunting and D&D and stuff… She said you also get bullied too.” He shrugged. “I was thinking maybe we could like hang out maybe even-”

“Listen Wes,” Diane started as she stopped in front of her locker.

“Weston,” He corrected. “Don’t like being called ‘Wes’.”

D paused in her words when she was corrected before turning to look at her locker to put in the combination. “Right, well Weston,” She said before shaking her head. “I’m not really in the right head space to be making new friends. You seem like… an okay kid but I don’t want to-” she was cut off right as she opened her locker.

A rancid smell and the feeling of warm liquid pouring out onto her legs made her almost gag. She could feel her socks and shoes soaking with the putrid substance as she looked at her locker a little closer. A plastic film was what seemed to be keeping it in, ripped from being pulled too far. What made it worse was that there were things written inside of the locker. All the things she left in her locker, soaked to a point of looking bloated and squishy. Her Ouija board deformed beyond recognition, the only way she could tell it was even her board was the fact that the running ink was the same dark color as the box was covered in.

‘Try talking to the dead while smelling like one’ was the first one she saw, written in a prettier font than the subject of the sentence in what looked like a metallic sharpie. She looked from the door of her locker to the inside of it, finding it difficult as the smell caused her eyes to water. All the horrible sentences in different fonts with curly tails and i’s dotted with little hearts as if the metal of her locker was a cute little birthday invitation ‘This smells better than what’s between your legs’, ‘just join your dad already’, ‘your face is just as disgusting as the garbage you were fished out of’, ‘I thought dowsing rods were supposed to tell you where water is’, ‘gross little bitch’, ‘You’ve got a face only a mother could love because he doesn’t have one of his own’. ‘You’re so unwanted, even your dad killed himself to get away’. But the last two words stung worse than these other sentences. ‘Aunt Killer’.

D stood perfectly still as she could hear a group of teens gathering around her, trying to get a look at the carnage. Most made some type of noise of disgust and others just started to giggle. She didn’t like this feeling at all, her eyes wide as she looked over to Weston. His face painted with the same amount of shock on her own. But a little past him, she could see the smirk of a familiar she beast. Janis’ devilish grin told her everything. This is what avoiding her for a week resulted in.

She looked back up at Weston and shook her head slightly before abandoning her open locker and pushing her way through the small crowd. She covered her face with her hand to hide the fact that she was going to cry. The stench of her locker following her as she rushed out the front doors of the school. She was done. She was more than done.

She wished things were like how they were when they were kids. When she actually had friends, kids that didn’t make fun of her for how she looked or what her background was. When she and Janis were actually friends, giggling over that dumb pony show and having late nights of talking about if the Easter bunny of the tooth fairy was real. Before the real world hit made everyone realize that they were different. Why can’t they be like that again?

D finally removed her hands from her face when she felt like she was far away enough from the school. Her palms wet from her tear soaked eyes touching them. She sniffled her runny nose but gagged once she caught a whiff of her legs. “Fuckin’ gross,” she said through a slight sob. “Why would she stoop so fuckin’ low?” she asked herself as she continued to walk down the sidewalk. She looked down at herself once more. She knew once she got home, her mom would be there too due to someone stealing her bike. He’d be more than angry about this, probably threaten to talk to Travis and his husband. But what would that help? It would only create more bullying for her and she didn’t want to deal with more of this. 

Her best option she felt right now was the treehouse. She’d be alone, allowed to cry however loud she wanted, avoid any kind of ‘Oh poor baby’ comments. She didn’t need any kind of pity like that. She just wanted to be alone. 

She took a deep breath as she looked back up, seeing she was on the right track to head to the treehouse. She breathed through her mouth from now on as she didn’t want the chance of puking her guts out while walking. She adjusted her backpack on her shoulders as she continued to walk, the dampness on her legs causing them to feel frigid. 

The weather had changed from swelter hot to autumn breeze practically overnight. The trees changed from their lively green to looking like they were on fire. It was always nice to see against the sea of pine Diane would see on car rides. This weather would always make her think about what she would do for Halloween, how she could convince her mom into wearing the costume that she wanted, even seeing if Ash could convince Sal into letting her wear whatever she wanted. But not this year… Not anymore…

D shook her head of these thoughts as she noticed she was approaching the apartments, wiping her eyes as she veered off of the sidewalk and into the grass. She made her way up to the cut out part of the fence, pushing it in as she made her way to the tree. Her watery eyes not assisting in her climb up in the treehouse, the slats blurry as she felt around for them. Once she made her way to the top, she was surprised to see the shape of a person laying on the floor.

Her brow furrowed as she sniffled once again, finding that to be a mistake as she felt her stomach turn again. She pushed herself into the treehouse and tried to examine what this person looked like. It was difficult to tell since their back was facing toward her, their clothes looking well worn with rips and tears here and there. Maybe they were homeless trying to find a nice little place to stay. She looked around to make sure none of her stuff was touched, nothing taken from it, hoping they weren’t aiming to take anything when they left. 

D looked back at the figure, shifting her jaw slightly as she got a little closer. Their long hair, unkempt hair was another sign to her that they really could be homeless. She was a little stuck on what to do. Should she just leave this person be? They could have gone into the actual apartments, not in her treehouse. She decided to pull a brave face, adjusting her backpack once more on her shoulders before moving closer to this person and tapping them gently with her foot.

“Hey,” D said, trying her best not to sound like a fearful little girl who just came up here to cry. “Uh, you can’t be up here, this is my treehouse.”

She was a little startled by the sudden movement of the other person, a low groan leaving them as they started to stir. 

“Wha- what?” They said hazily, like they had just woken from a long nap.

Diane felt herself gather up more courage as they continued to wake. “This is my treehouse and I need you to leave before calling the cops.” She added trying to sound big and tough.

“Your treehouse?” They said as they moved to sit up. They turned to look at her, but Diane kept her ground. Her brows stayed furrowed as she stared down at them.

“Yeah, this is my treehouse. I’m the only one who’s been up here in the-” her words trailed off as she watched the man push his hair out of his face. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped as she wouldn’t believe what she was seeing. A face with a long nose like hers, thick eyebrows over a pair of brown eyes, and a bit of stumble that seemed unkempt on his chin. A face she had only seen in pictures and heard stories of.

This was the face of Larry Johnson.


	7. Redux

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The art done for this chapter was done by my boyfriend! You can find his stuff here:https://twitter.com/TheAdam_Clifton and here:https://www.artstation.com/artwork/6a2A8x

Diane had never experienced true shock before. Not the ‘surprise, happy birthday’ kinda shock. No, she had never experienced the stop you in your tracks, take the air out of your lungs, kinda shock. She felt like the whole world stood still the moment she realized it was her dead father sitting in front of her. She couldn’t breathe, She couldn’t move, She couldn’t even think at this moment. All she could do was stare at the man sitting on the ground in front of her.

Larry stared back up at this teen with confusion painted on his face. She looked oddly familiar, like a face he had remembered seeing but so hazily and washed out in his mind. Another thought stopped him in his tracks before he could even continue in the thought he had before. Wasn’t he dead? Or supposed to be? The burning feeling in the back of his throat still hinting that he drank down the entire bottle and the pills… Where was the bottle? He searched around on the floor for a moment, trying to find either the glass alcohol bottle or the prescription pills that he downed only to be greeted with a worn and clean floor. He looked back up at the teen, seeing she hadn’t moved at all like a deer in the headlights. “You still haven’t answered me,” He said as he cocked his brow at the girl. “What do you mean by your treehouse?”

D eyes stayed wide as she continued to stare, her face only reading shock as she tried to register what was happening. She barely heard the question asked of her as she could only hear the blood rushing to her head. “Uh- bu- wha-” was all she could get out for a moment before shaking her head. “Yo- You’re Larry.” She said with complete disbelief. “Larry Johnson.”

Larry furrowed his brows as he heard that. How did this girl know his name? “Uh yeah, that’s me.” He said as he started to push himself up onto his feet. “And this treehouse is mine. Who are you?” 

D watched as he stood up, backing away slightly fearful over what he was going to do. Sal was right, he was tall. Like he could easily tower over her kinda tall. It was weird seeing it in person rather than looking at the difference in photographs between him and her mom. 

Larry noticed the teen back away, her shocked expression turning to one of fear. He didn’t intend on seeming like a threat. He lifted his hands to show he wasn’t gonna do anything before stuffing them into his pockets. “Look if you’re lost or a runaway or something, I’m willing to help you out, kid.” He said softly, trying to make her feel a little safer. “I just gotta know your name.”

She shook her head slightly. “No, I’m not lost or- or a run away or anything like that.” Diane sputtered out. “It’s just- Am I dreaming? Is this real? Are you real?” She asked before looking down at her hands. Why would she dream of something like this? A boy she barely knew interacting with her and being horribly fucked over by Janis didn’t seem like they were supposed to be a part of a dream. This smell didn’t seem like anything she would dream about. 

He cocked his brow looking at D with complete confusion. Was she on something? Why was she acting like this? “Still haven’t gotten your name.” He said simply trying to keep her on track.

D looked up at Larry as she was snapped out of her thoughts. Her head rushed with how she was going to explain how weird this situation was. She took a deep breath as she tried to collect herself well enough. “Uh well… This is gonna sound really fuckin’ bizarre and not true but I can assure you it is.” She said as she tried to maintain eye contact. “You know a guy with blue hair? About a few inches taller than I am? Wears a mask all the time?” She asked with a nervous chuckle.

Larry furrowed his brow before his face softened in expression at the questions. Sal. He almost forgot that he had left the blunette on his own. He just remembered sending those texts to him before trying to off himself. He started to get an awful feeling in his chest as he nodded his head. “Yeah, I know Sal.” He said softly. “You a new friend of his? Did he send you to come check on me?”

D shook her head vigorously. “Uh no but yes,” She said with a slight tilting of her head side to side. “My name is Diane. Diane Fisher. I’m his kid… And yours too.” She said with a slightly nervous smile knowing this was hard to believe.

Larry stared at her for a moment, the silence growing between them feeling suspenseful. Diane’s smile faded slightly as he continued to stare at her. 

Larry couldn’t help but start to laugh at the completely absurd situation presented to him. “No fuckin’ way you’re my kid.” He said as his chuckles died down. “Did he put you up to this? Trying to scare me out of doing something stupid?” He added before getting a better look at the teen. “What are you? 14? You seriously can’t have me believe that you’re my kid.”

D furrowed her brow in slight offense as she heard him say that she looked like she was younger than what she was. “I just turned 16 and I really am your kid.” She replied back before shaking her head slightly. “Mom had me just a little bit after you died. When he moved and after everyone had died-”

Larry cocked his brow after hearing the part where she called Sal ‘mom’ but his brow furrowed even more at the statement of ‘after everyone died’. It honestly caught him off guard to a point where he couldn’t really listen to the rest of what she had to say. He moved his eyes off the teenager to the window just for a glance before it moved back to the window and stuck there. He moved past her in almost a rush as he was trying to believe what he saw. The building looked as if it were inhabitable, completely run down, and abandoned looking. Like no one had been living there for years.

“What the fuck?” Larry asked in a hushed horror. He was just there. He was talking to his mom hours ago, walking through the halls with Sal, laying in bed and thinking about the next move.

D had jumped at the sudden rush that Larry was in to move past her, raising her arms as if to block an attack from him but only realizing moments later that he was at the window looking at the apartments. She stayed quiet for a moment before finding her voice to speak up. “It’s been abandoned for years now.” She said softly. “Uh… something really really bad happened there that caused it to be that way. No one’s bought the building and no one’s been in it since the murders.”

“Wh-What?” Larry said as he moved his head from looking out the window to the girl. “No, nothing like that’s happened! It was completely fine when I was last here!” He said in a slight panic. “Oh fuck… Oh god…” He whispered to himself as he shook his head, a wide eyed gaze no longer on D. It was on the floor but it wasn't staring at anything particular. The look was a look of complete shock and horror.

He had stayed like this for a few moments before once again moving, no longer with rational thought but on pure emotion. He moved to the small opening that was their only exit and entrance, climbing down the slats with some speed.

D’s eyes widened as she watched the other brunette making his way down the opening and moving down the tree quicker than she had seen anyone do so. She felt something in her to go follow him, just to make sure he wouldn’t run out into the street and get hit by a car. Wouldn't want him dying just minutes after finding him here… She completely abandoned her bag as she made her way down the slats with careful movements, looking down at the ground only seeing Larry already there and heading toward the apartments.

He was practically sprinting to the door that led to his room in hopes that he would run in, finding that this was all an elaborate hoax. That his mom was upstairs, a confused look on her face as he would have barged into her and Henry’s apartment. Maybe he would even see Sal, Ash, and Todd with smiles on their faces as they held in laughter from the prank they had just pulled on him. But those thoughts instantly faded away as he found his door locked. He stared at the door for a long moment before deciding to rush around to the front of the building, not even listening to the calls out of his name from the girl claiming to be his daughter.

He probably just forgot that he locked the door, that’s all. He’d be relieved once he’d even enter through there knowing nothing was wrong. Hell, even seeing Mrs. Gibson’s face would bring him a sense of joy that he wouldn’t normally feel under any other circumstances. He stopped at the sight that caught him off guard. The front door being boarded up and the handles locked by a chain loping around it’s handles with a lock keeping them bound together, lightly rusted and almost archaic. Like it hadn’t been touched in years. 

He felt his shoulder slump at the fact that this was all real. His head reeled in realization of this being thrown at him. Was he truly gone for all these years? Had everyone really died from being murdered? Did him and Sal really have a kid together? All these questions had bum rushed into his mind as he stood there just staring at the doors that were supposed to lead into his home.

D quickly rounded the corner completely out of breath as she stopped a fair distance away from Larry, her heart pounding in her chest as she had watched him make his way over here. “Jesus.” She gasped out as she tried to catch her breath. She tilted her head up to look at Larry, seeing he was just staring at the door. It wasn’t anything new to her. The first couple of times she had thought of entering the apartments herself, she had tried the front door, even busting a few bobby pins to try and unlock it the dumb lock. She took a few more deep breaths before as she adjusted herself to stand properly. 

“Everyone that lived here died almost 17 years prior.” She said, a little nervous to even start speaking to the brunette. “I don’t really know what happened but Ash said she got here just a few minutes after the cops did.” She added as she kept her eyes on the door as well. “After that, they boarded the doors and made sure to lock every possible entrance.” 

Larry did react to what he was told, being in an almost catatonic state as he kept his eyes on the door. He stayed quiet for the longest time before taking a breath to speak again. “W- what’s the date?” He asked through a quiet tone of voice. 

D let the silence grow starting to get a little uneasy at the feeling before jumping at the quiet words that cut through the air. She shifted her jaw as she tried to remember today’s date. “It’s uh… It’s September 16th… 2016…” She answered as her gaze moved to Larry. She couldn’t really gage his reaction to the news. The look on his face stayed the same but there was something in his eyes that just read pure shock induced adrenaline and complete horror. His body looked completely stiff as he turned to look at her. She felt a weird sort of fear course through her, like she should just sprint in the other direction after getting that look.

Larry stared at the girl wide eyed, not meaning to scare her with his look but with everything going on around him he just was having a hard time processing everything. How was she possible? How was any of this possible?.. He needed a familiar face, he needed a small amount of comfort in this weird time. “Where’s Sal?” He asked in a whisper.

D shifted her jaw as she fought the urge to just run away, feeling like it was now her place to try and keep calm. She hesitated in her words only because they were caught in her throat. “He’s- He’s at home.” She replied softly. “You want me to uh… want me to call him?” She asked with an unsure tone in her voice. 

All Larry did to reply was just nod and look back at the building. He was becoming dizzy from the head ache forming in his brain. All this new information just couldn’t settle itself well in his mind as he was just here only hours ago. How could a couple hours turn into almost 2 decades? 

D stood almost just as still as he was before another second passed of pure silence, finding it so weird that not even the birds were singing in the trees. Maybe they were but the shock she had felt probably drowned the sound of them all out. She quickly fumbled around herself, searching desperately for her phone in one of her pockets. She had finally found it in her back pocket, her hands shaky as she tried multiple times to type into her passcode to get into her phone. 

She opened the call logs on her phone before tapping the familiar number to her. She brought the phone up to her ear, keeping a close eye on Larry as she waited for her mom to answer.


	8. Rush Hour

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this weeks piece was a collaboration of my friend Chimeramix. Check them out here: https://www.instagram.com/chimeramix/ or here: https://aminoapps.com/c/sface/page/user/ietierspeciesix/qkex_N5BsYfnPn6wNYWeo88RwPx6BgYj0rVFg and my boyfriend which you can check him out here:https://twitter.com/TheAdam_Clifton and here:https://www.artstation.com/artwork/6a2A8x

Sal was in the kitchen trying to keep his mind occupied with a mindless chore instead of thinking on what could be taking his daughter so long to get home. This would be the time that Ash would say something about ‘she's probably at the treehouse’ and they’d chat for a little longer about something going on about their day. But he didn’t have that anymore. He didn’t have anyone anymore. It was like losing everyone in the apartments all over again but this time he didn’t have someone to cry to. It was only him and his daughter. He honestly didn’t know if he was going to be strong enough himself to emotionally be there for his daughter. 

He stopped in what he was doing, pausing to take a deep breath as the thought of not being strong enough for Diane really hit him hard. He had tried his best for so long and to be brought down by the death of his only close friend. He pressed his palms against the edge of the counter as he tried to collect himself, feeling tears starting to bubble up in his eyes. He closed his eyes as he didn’t want to start crying, just in case Diane was about to walk through the front door. 

He only opened his eyes once he heard the familiar ringtone and his eyes shooting wide open as he realized it was the one assigned to Diane. It was a little shocking to hear it since she didn’t call unless it was an emergency. 

He bolted from the kitchen and into the living room to look for his cell phone. He didn’t know why he felt like it was so urgent, maybe it was his thoughts from before that caused him to go into such a panic. He snatched it off of the coffee table and didn’t even look at the name on screen before swiping the green button and bringing it to his ear.

“What happened, baby?” He said quickly. “What’s wrong? Do you need me to come get you?” He said quickly, practically stumbling over his own words before hearing his daughter’s voice on the other end.

“Momma!” D said quickly over the phone. “You’re not gonna believe what just happened! I went to the treehouse after school because of something that happened and I found someone in there! I thought it was just a homeless man and I didn’t want him staying there so I kinda tapped him with my foot and-”

“Whoa, baby, slow down.” He said softly, trying to calm her down. His horror and fear suddenly had another emotion mixed in with it. Confusion. He had never heard her speak so wildly and fast. “Take a deep breath before-”

“It’s dad!” He heard her say into the phone. “It’s Larry and he’s alive! He’s standing right in front of me right now!” 

He furrowed his brow as he heard her still panicking over the phone. He felt even more confused as he heard her mention something about her dad. He stayed quiet for a long moment before shaking his head and only able to respond with one word. “What?”

He could hear a frustrated exhale come from his teenager, he could hear her messing with her phone for a moment, the muffled taps and moment of complete silence. More muffled tapping followed the sound of the shutter before bringing her phone back up to her ear. “Text! Check your text!” She stuttered over her words.

He felt the vibration against his cheek, tickling slightly before pulling it away from his ear and looking down at his phone screen. It lit up the moment he pulled it away, seeing the banner at the top edge of the screen from his daughter with a subject that just said ‘Sent Attachment’. He furrowed his brow even further as he tapped it and waited for it to open. His heart stopped as soon as he saw the photo. 

It was obviously a picture of the front of the apartments as the setting but the subject of the photo is what caught him off guard. All he could see was a slightly blurry Larry, or at least the back of him. Even with the picture like this, he could easily tell who this was. His messy long back hair, his shoulders, his back, even the tattered shirt was recognizable from the back.

He could feel the grip on his phone loosen as he couldn’t believe seeing a photo of Larry right now. He barely even registered his daughter’s voice through the receiver on the phone calling out for him again. He dropped his phone immediately and quickly made his way to the front door. He barely even remembered to grab his mask off the small table by the door for keys before throwing his door open and rushing to his car without even shutting his door.

Sal opened his car door and quickly sat in the driver's seat, his breathing sporadic as he put the mask on his face and only clasping the top strap behind his head. He patted himself down quickly to try and find his keys. He cursed at himself as he realized he didn’t even grab his keys before getting out of the car. 

He rushed back inside and grabbed the keys off the small table, almost slamming the door shut this time before rushing back to the car more prepared this time. He got back into the car and stuck the keys into the ignition quickly, not even buckling himself up as he sped out of his driveway.

He wasn’t even thinking straight as he drove, his mind only thinking about seeing his dead boyfriend again. His heart was racing and his mind looping the thought of how it was possible that Larry was back. He had seen some crazy shit in his life. He had crazy shit happen in his life, but someone coming back to life? That sounded completely impossible. But the fact that he had a 16 year old daughter with the brunette was another very impossible thing that happened. 

He was brought back to consciousness once he had realized he needed to slam on the brakes to stop himself from running into a car at a stop sign. “Fuck!” He yelled at himself as he lurched forward, feeling his mask bounce on his face from coming to a sudden stop. He scoffed as he heard the horn from the car in front of him lay on their horn before he pressed on the horn for just as long, the tense feeling causing him to grow angry and impatient. 

“HURRY UP! THERE’S NO ONE ON EITHER FUCKING SIDE!” He yelled at the other car, not even caring that they couldn’t hear him or the fact that it would have been his fault if he actually hit them. He just wanted to start driving again, afraid of Larry just disappearing while he was driving.

As soon as the other car turned, he didn’t stop at the stop sign and sped through it. He tried to mind the speed limit but refused to slow down for any reason, only slowing down once he saw the apartments approaching in his windshield. He felt an odd sense of nostalgia hitting him. He avoided driving down this road if possible, not wanting to be reminded of what happened and who he was missing. He felt his heart sink further and further down as he closer and closer to the apartments. 

He shook it off as soon as he saw his daughter come into view on the other side of the chain link fence, but just past her sitting on the steps on the apartment building was Larry, head in his hands. His eyes grew wider as he couldn’t believe he was seeing him with his own eyes. He pulled onto the curb quickly and put the car into park. He didn’t even pull his keys out of the ignition as he opened his car door and rushed to the fence. “Larry?!” He called out as he kept his eyes on the man on the steps.

Larry lifted his head from his hands as soon as he heard the familiar voice, feeling relieved as he saw the familiar masked face and bright blue hair. “Sal?” He called back.

D turned her head around to look at her mom, surprised to see him looking almost manic as he came closer to the fence. She had never seen her mom like that ever, looking like a lab rat trying to find a way to it’s reward of cheese at the end of it’s maze.

Sal felt a weird sort of excitement as he heard the voice call back, becoming frantic looking for a way onto the property and really considering climbing the fence just to cut seconds off of his time away from the other. “Diane! How do you get in here?!” He asked his voice cracking slightly as he still searched for a way to get closer to Larry. 

D’s eyes widened as she heard Sal’s voice crack before pointing toward the rip in the fence. “Over there!” She called back as she watched him run toward where she was pointing before she even spoke. 

Sal quickly pushed his way through the hole, not even minding as he felt the metal scrape against his skin. He ran closer to the other two, slowing down once he was close enough to see Larry better. He felt his heart race as soon as he saw his face. He looked like how he did the day he died, not a single day older. He slowly made his way past his daughter and towards the other man. 

Larry watched as Sal slowly made his way to him, a little fearful about how the blunette felt. He was sure he must have been pretty pissed after leaving him like how he did years ago. Part of him thought that Sal was actually about to hit him for leaving him with a kid to raise. His eyes followed the other as he slowly made his way to him, getting close enough to see how wide Sal’s eye’s were. He stayed still as he saw the hand reach up feeling like he was about to be slapped before being surprised by the gentle caress from the other’s hand.

Sal kept his hand on Larry’s cheek to even feel if he was real, once he felt the slightly warm skin on the palm of his hand it all hit him. Larry was actually here. The man he had loved and held his heart was actually alive, breathing, and here. He moved from caressing Larry’s cheek to hugging him tightly, his eyes watering over. “Holy fuck, Larry.” He said with a slight sob to his voice. 

Larry stood surprised as he felt the arms wrap around him and tightly enough to feel like all the air in his lungs leaving him. He relaxed a little more as he wrapped his own arms around Sal, hugging him back just as tightly. “I-I’m so sorry, blue.” He said softly, finding that was all he could really say. He felt guilty and horrible for what he did, not even felt like the sorry was enough for what he had put Sal through. “I’m so so sorry…”

D stood to the side as she watched Sal hug Larry, feeling this was something that she shouldn’t have been here for. This was a moment between two people that seemed to really know each other and have a lot of emotions shared between the two. She shifted her jaw as she looked down at her shoes, almost forgetting about what brought her to the treehouse in the first place.

The blunette pulled away slightly from Larry after a long moment, moving his hands under his mask to wipe his eyes. “How are you even here?” He asked through a wavering voice. “You were gone, Lar. You were dead.” He added as he kept his eye on him. 

Larry shook his head as he heard Sal speak. “I- I really don’t know,” He said with a slight stutter to his voice. “All I know is I woke up in the treehouse to that girl over there telling me she’s your kid… mine too.” He added with a slight shrug before glancing up at D.

Sal furrowed his brow as he heard what Larry said before his eyes widened and he was hit with reality again. He turned to look at his daughter, seeing her standing a little awkwardly and keeping her distance from the other two. He separated fully from Larry and made his way to Diane to ask her if she was okay before stopping in his tracks. He immediately moved his hands to the nose of his mask as he made a noise of disgust. “Good lord,” He said with an audible gasp. “Baby girl, what happened? Why do you smell like that?” 

D felt her face flush completely red from embarrassment, not wanting a reaction like that coming from her mom. She furrowed her brow even further in worry as she glanced at Larry. She didn’t want to explain what happened at school to him in front of someone she only knew about. “Uh… I can tell you when you get home.” She said a little softly. “Imma walk home... give you some time with Larry.” She said softly.

Sal furrowed his brow in worry before shaking his head. “Don’t you want a ride home, sweetheart?” He asked as he tried to take another step closer.

D stepped back as soon as he tried to approach her. “No, I don’t want your car smelling like this.” She said as she shook her head. “Imma just… Go…” She said as she started to make her way to the rip in the fence, completely abandoning her backpack in the treehouse just to get away from the embarrassment of being asked what happened and how bad she smelled.

Sal let out a sigh as he watched his daughter walk away before feeling a hand on his shoulder and looking up at the owner of it. He was greeted with Larry’s face, showing a level of concern and looking like he was about to take the opportunity of their time together.

“Sal,” Larry said softly. “What’s going on? Why’s the building like this?” He asked with an exhausted tone. “How do we have a daughter? How was that even possible?”

The blunette kept his eyes on the other before moving his hand to caress Larry’s face again. He just wanted to feel him being there, his brow furrowing in worry as he hated the thought of being the bearer of all this bad news. He let out a sigh before moving away from the brunette, to the steps of the apartment, and sitting down on the cracked concrete. He gestured for the other to do the same.

“I guess I have some things to tell you.”


	9. Bearer of Bad News

Sal kept his eye in the brunette as he waited for Larry to take a seat next to him, his heart still racing after making the discovery of finding him alive. He wondered if this was a dream of some sort cause there was no way this was real. Sure, he hugged him, felt his warm skin on the palm of his hand but he had done that before in other dreams. Dreams where they were living as a happy family, both of them aging together, watching their daughter grow, and being able to say ‘Hey I remember that!’ and waking up to the sad reality of his partner not being there. He was absolutely lost in thought when he felt the presence of Larry right next to him.

“Well?” Larry said softly. “Do you have some answers for me?” He asked as he leaned in a little more, for some reason expecting their conversation to be quiet even if they were the only one’s here. His eyes studied the other slightly. Sal didn’t really look like he changed at all, only thing looking different to him was the fact that his hair was a little longer. That face he had worn having the same stoic expression that always gave him a sense of uneasiness. He’d much rather be looking at the actual face of his partner, finding that more comforting than this almost expressionless plastic face.

The blunette let out a sigh, a moment of silence hanging in the air for a moment before he opened his mouth to speak. “After… you died, Lar, lots of stuff happened.” He started a little somberly. He moved to rest his elbows on his knees and his gaze staying on the ground.

“We, uh… We buried you.” He quietly spoke as he relived the day. “It was maybe a week or two after you died. Police said that they couldn’t find your body, that after you texted me you must have taken the prescription pills with the bottle of alcohol in the treehouse. Then when you realized that I was on my way to find you, you must have gotten up and climbed out of the treehouse and ran toward the woods where some animal, like a black bear or a pack of coyotes, could have dragged you off after finding your dead body. They found the bottle the pills came from and the Jack Daniels you decided to throw back with them. They searched the woods and just… Couldn’t find anything.” He let out a sigh. “Your mom, god… She was devastated. Me and Dad tried our best to help her with everything, funeral cost and all that. But there wasn’t anything that was going to help what she went through.”

Larry furrowed his brow hard at the news he had just received. It didn’t make any sense. He didn’t move at all from the treehouse. He remembered just feeling a complete emotion of anguish washed over him and it just wouldn’t go away, some kinda migraine had hit him like a shit ton of bricks as he had made his decision. His back on the wooden floor as he had swallowed down as many pills as he could without the help of the alcohol before chugging it down with the other half. At least that was all he could remember. The mention of his mom made him go wide eyed. “Where is my mom?” He asked with a brow of complete worry. He knew if he had walked into wherever she was living that he’d probably give her some type of heart attack. “Please tell me she’s okay.”

Sal looked up from the ground as he gave Larry a completely somber look. “Larry… She’s gone.” He said softly, pausing as if he were trying to find a way to put this gently but failing completely. “About a week after the funeral, something happened and I just can’t really wrap my head around it.” He said as he stumbled on his words. “Something had snapped in Todd that night and he just… murdered everyone who lived here.” He stumbled on his words slightly. “My dad, Lisa, Chug, Rob… Everyone, Lar. Even poor little Soda.” He added with a wavering to his voice. “Just… gone.”

Larry’s eyes had widened like saucers as soon as he heard that his mom was dead. His gaze started to drift slightly past Sal as his eyes started to water over. He couldn’t believe this, any of it. There was no way that any of this was true. “N-no,” he said as he started to shake his head, slowly but building up in speed. “No there’s no way Todd- Our Todd would do that!!” He said as he looked back at the building they were sitting at the entrance to.

“Ash saw him,” Sal continued as he watched the other look behind him. “When the cops took him out of the building, She said that he looked like a wild animal.” He said with a shake of his head. “I couldn’t fucking believe it myself until I had seen the news about his sentencing. He really didn’t look like our Todd, Larry.”

The brunette’s eyes stared at Sal with devastation on his face as his eyes watered over as he registered that everyone he knew and loved was dead. It devastated him even further to know that his mom, the only person he had left, was murdered by one of his best friends. His heart felt like it had shattered and his throat felt like it was on fire before feeling a sob escape him. He brought his hands to his face and started to feel himself break down. He couldn’t take it. This wasn’t what he wanted to happen. He thought everyone would live a better life, be happier without him being in the picture but things just ended up being so much worse.

Sal’s eyes widened as he heard Larry sob, scooting closer to him and wrapping his arms around him. “Hey, shhh.” He said softly. “ I know. I know this is really awful and I’m sorry you had to find out this way.” He tried in a calm tone to sooth the other, rubbing his back as he spoke. 

Larry moved his hands from his face to wrap around the smaller man, burying his face into the crook of Sal’s neck as he couldn’t hold back his tears. He tried to calm himself by taking in a few deep breaths and easing himself at the feeling of his partner’s comfort. It took him a few moments before he could get himself to stop crying, a sniffle leaving him as he pulled away to look at Sal’s eyes. He furrowed his brow slightly as a few thoughts came to him. He adjusted himself to how he was sitting before, rubbing his nose with the back of his hand and rubbing his now puffy, red eyes with the palm of his hand. “You didn’t see Todd till he was on the news? Why wouldn’t you have been here with Ash?” He asked as he tried to compose himself.

Sal furrowed his brow once more as he heard the question before letting out a sigh. “I was really heart broken after you died… It was maybe two days before I decided I couldn’t be here anymore. With all the memories we made around town and all the people we knew, I went to grieve on my own.” He said as he looked out onto the street. “I bought a cheap car for a couple hundred bucks and packed up whatever I could into it. Todd and Neil tried stopping me, even Ash did too. Said it just wasn’t a good idea at all to just go off on my own to somewhere where I knew nobody. I told them I really needed to be away for a while, that I was only an hour away and I would try to visit as often as I could.” He said before scoffing. “I lived in my car for a couple of days before actually finding an apartment. It was a little shady that the landlord let me move in after a couple of days but I honestly saw it as a blessing in disguise.”

Larry was a little astonished at the fact that Sal decided to move away from Nockfell after he died, listening intently to his partner acting on such rash decisions. He was so overloaded and already so emotionally drained from the horrible news he had received but he wanted to know more. He needed to know more. “What happened after that? Where’s Todd now? And Ash a-and Neil?” He took a breath between his questions before asking another one. “And what about the kid? How is she even possible, Sal?”

The blunette kept his gaze out on the road before speaking again. “Todd was sentenced to an asylum for the criminally insane from what I saw on the television years ago.” He said softly. “Life had barely just gotten back to normal after that. I had received money from dad’s life insurance and I had tried not to touch that money while I tried to find work where I was living. But that kinda came to a halt after I started getting sick.” He sighed. “It wasn’t a normal kinda sick, it was a throwing up every couple hours or so for weeks straight, I was also getting headaches at the base of my skull that drove me insane. I mentioned it to Ash and she freaked the fuck out. She told me that it wasn’t normal to be that sick, that I should really go see a doctor. At first, I refused and told her I was fine. That it was probably some sort of bug that I had gotten from going on too many interviews, or that there was probably something going on with the apartment that was causing me to be sick. But after constant pestering and daily phone calls, I decided to shut her up by just going.

“It was a normal check up, nothing too bad but they did wanna draw my blood since they couldn’t really find anything actually wrong with and probably just to give me the benefit of the doubt.” Sal scoffed and shook his head. “I would have been fine with just leaving and calling it good, but they insisted. It took another hour of just waiting before a doctor came back in telling me I had cancer.” He paused for a minute as he remembered the fear he felt sitting on the examination table, his heart almost dropping to the floor. “There was a high level of estrogen in my blood and when they find that in most males, it usually means there’s a high chance of cancer.” He couldn’t help but chuckle lightly at the mistake. “They made me strip off my clothes and wear a hospital gown to go in for a CT scan of my whole body just to find where a mass could be. They stopped it immediately after they had scanned my torso.” He stopped to take another breath.

“You should have seen the look on their faces when they had to pull me out as quickly as they could, telling me they had to do an ultrasound of my abdomen just to make sure what they thought was going on, was going on. I didn’t get any kinda heads up about what this meant, if it was good or bad and they were refusing to tell me anything till they had me dressed again and laying on the table to have my stomach looked at.” He looked over to Larry and watched him for a moment before speaking again. “I was 3 months pregnant. It explained my sickness, my headaches, why I had so much estrogen in my blood, and the heart beat coming from the monitor. They had only known of one other case that happened a year prior to mine that happened in Colorado. Apparently the term used ‘undetectable uterus’, where it was just a little bit above my prostate and I had one that was being occupied.” He said with slight disbelief. “That’s how Diane happened.” He said with a sigh, feeling slightly embarrassed in himself that he seemed even more like a freak now.

Larry was in so much shock and disbelief of this all. He couldn’t imagine how scary, how absolutely frightening that could have all been for the blunette. He should have been there for him, holding his hand through the whole process and being his rock to lean on, but he failed him. He felt even more guilt pile onto himself as he realized that he could have been there for all of it. He was at a loss for words, staring at the other completely afraid to speak. Not even an apology would be enough for this.

Sal watched as the other seemed to be processing what he was telling him, deciding to just continue on. “It didn’t just happen with me either.” He added quietly. “The other case in Colorado? That was Travis. Apparently the year before that, he had ran away with his now husband and had their first child.”

“First child?” Larry said, a little spooked by those being the first words out of his mouth after hearing all of this.

Sal nodded his head. “They had gone on television, talk shows and the morning news, boasting about their little addition to their family and it was all the hype a little after Todd’s trial.” He said with a shake of his head. “‘First biological male to give birth to a healthy baby boy’ was the most common head liner I heard. They made more money off of tests and talk shows than I ever will by just working my job. And a few months after Diane was born, they had another baby and another round of talk shows. They kept calling their kids 'miracle children’ and that they were ‘gifts from god’ ” He said with an annoyed tone and a scoff. “His family lives here now, making money off of being a successful LGBTQ church.” He took a breath before furrowing his brow and looking up at Larry. “They’re not the only one’s either.”

Larry was once again feeling overloaded and exhausted from all this information about Travis. He felt a slight injustice about the blonde doing so well after the hell he had caused for them as teens. He felt himself get a little angry that Travis, of course, had to make it all about religion. He looked at Sal once more as he heard the last sentence. “What?” he asked lightly.

“Travis and I weren't the only ones to have kids, Lar.” Sal replied back. “Todd also had a kid.”

Larry’s eyes widened as he heard that another person he knew closely had this happen to them. “Wh-what?” He repeated just out of pure disbelief. 

Sal nodded. “I only learned it from Ash almost a month after I had Diane.” He continued as he looked at his hands. “Apparently Neil got a call in the middle of the night from the asylum that Todd had given birth in a nurses office to a little boy.” He said with a shake of his head before rubbing his hand together to try and warm them slightly from the cold. “They hadn’t known about it and from how Neil reacted, it seemed like he didn’t know either. He’s now raising their son here just so they can be closer to Todd.” He added as he looked back up at Larry. “It’s just crazy that all of this has happened in the last couple of decades.” 

Larry looked almost catatonic with how wide his eyes were, staring off as he was retrying to process all of this. First the death of everyone he knew and now this? He just couldn’t believe it… He was baffled and he was confused about all of it. He had so many questions and so many things he needed to know so he could piece this all together. “Wh- wha… How..?” He started and kept losing his place in the question he was about to ask. Maybe Sal was the wrong person to ask about this. Maybe he could talk to Ash too, figure out if she knew anything. “Do- Do you have Ash’s cell?” He asked in almost a daze. “Do you still talk to her?”

Sal felt his heart tear at the news he now had to deliver to Larry, this one hurting much worse since it was still a fresh grievance he had. “Larry…” He said softly through a wavering voice. “Ash… Sh- she was in an accident with our daughter and a drunk driver hit them. Ash wasn’t wearing a helmet and- and… She-” His voice wavered again as he moved his hand underneath his mask to wipe his watery eyes, his throat feeling like it was closing up and making him unable to speak.

Larry knew what he was going to say without him even finishing his sentence, his heart broke even further at the thought of his friend that he had considered like a sister was also now dead. Nothing but heartache seemed to have happened while he was dead. He started to feel his eyes water again as it hit him like a punch in the face. He fucked up. He really fucked up so horribly that he felt like he was to blame for all of the wrongs that had happened in everyone’s lives. He felt like he was the murderer of all of their friends and family in the apartments, he was the one that drove Sal to being alone, he was the one that caused the wreck Ash was in. Blame and sadness felt so heavy on him right now. Why the fuck would anything bring him back to something so tragic? 

He moved his hands to wipe his eyes before realizing Sal was also crying, He moved to hug him tightly as he just wanted the comfort for both him and his partner. He knew he felt like shit but Sal had to actually face all these problems first hand. He felt like he owed him years of comfort after this. “I’m so sorry I left you alone, Sal,” He said with a sob. “I was stupid for doing what I did. If I knew this was all gonna happen I wouldn’t have-”

“You didn’t.” Sal said softly, a little muffled with him being held so tightly to Larry. “You didn’t know any of this was going to happen and I’m not mad at you for that.” He added as he tried to take a few breaths to calm himself down, his eyes still a little watery. 

The blunette pulled away from the other slightly to look up at the other, his natural eye looking a little red and the other unphased by the tears on his lids. He didn’t realize how much time they had been there until he looked at the sky and saw that it was starting to get a little darker. He took a deep breath as he looked back at Larry.

“We should go somewhere we can be a little more comfortable… Maybe even talk a little more.” Sal said softly. “Home.”


	10. Unanswered Question

Weston was left in complete shock as he walked home after witnessing the worst of Diane’s bullying. He knew that the other girl was getting bullied, but he didn’t really know the extent of it. He honestly felt sorry for her, knowing exactly how it felt to be picked on so mercilessly. He didn’t know if he should have done something in that moment for her, maybe should have gone and gotten a teacher. But then again, he knew that it wouldn’t help anything. The teacher would have reported it and only make things worse for everyone involved and he didn’t want things to be worse for D. He didn’t want things to be worse for himself.

He shook his head slightly as he turned down his street, not really wanting to worry too much on what had just happened. His day wasn’t supposed to end on any kind of horrible note. It was supposed to be celebrated and recognized as one of the better days anyone would have out of the year. 

Today was his birthday.

16 was supposed to be the number that brought some form of freedom with it, the ability to drive a car and show that he was maturing into a young adult. But he just felt a little sad and a little cheated that he didn’t have Ash there this year. 

Every year before this, She would drop by and pick him up late at night just so they could drive somewhere with no light pollution. It was always a little ways out but it was worth it to look up into the sky and see all the stars looking like holes in a dark sheet. It always felt a little magical to him to see the sky like that, falling in love all over again with the thought of going up there. To be able to go beyond the sky and touch the stars was a dream he wanted to make a reality, and the fact that he had the encouragement from both his dad and Ash always pushed him to do so much better.

But he was robbed of that this year. The death of someone he felt was like family hit him hard and he didn’t really know how to cope with the sudden loss. He couldn’t bring himself to blame D, she was just as much a victim as Ash was in this. But he was a little jealous that the girl actually had Ash with her on her birthday. He could feel himself starting to tear up at the thought before quickly bringing the sleeve of his shirt up to his face, pushing his glasses up as he wiped his eyes. He didn’t want this to be sad, damn it.

He had finally stopped in front of his house, eyeing the crooked mailbox slightly as he walked down the walkway, wondering if he had gotten a half assed birthday card from his grandparents with a bill of Andrew Jackson to make up for the lack of words. Once he got to the door, he paused for a moment. He took a deep breath in and let it out as he didn’t want to look like how he was feeling. He tried to force himself to be positive, putting a light smile on his face as he opened the door. He made his way inside and immediately spotted his dad on the couch, noticing that he was looking a little tired and a little more stressed. His smile faded slightly as he dropped his bag where he usually did near the door.

“Hey pop,” He said as he made his way to the couch. “You okay?”

Neil had barely noticed his son had finally made it home, grabbing the multiple papers he had before turning his head to smile at Weston. “I’m good,” He replied lightly. “Nothing you need to worry about, son.” He said as he pushed himself off of the couch to put the papers away. “How was school? Anyone wish you a happy birthday?”

Wes kept a slight worried look as he watched his dad make his way to the kitchen. “It was okay, nothing too bad happened.” He lied as he leaned on the back of the couch. “School was just as normal as it is everyday, so no. No one gave me birthday wishes.” He said with a light scoff. 

Neil listened as he opened a drawer to put the papers in before stepping out of the kitchen and smiling at his son. “Well, at least the rest of the day will be pretty great,” He said with a tired smile before taking in a deep breath, staring at Wes for a moment. “You sure you wanna go today?” He asked with a slightly more serious tone. “I know I did all the paperwork for us to have this out of the blue visitation day but I could easily make a phone call and-”

“I wanna go,” Weston interrupted with a slight worried smile, reassuring his dad that this was something he definitely wanted to do. “Wouldn’t really have a birthday to celebrate if it wasn’t for Todd.” He added as he moved away from the couch. “Are we heading out soon?” He added as he pushed his glasses up on his face.

Neil nodded his head slightly before lifting his arm to look at his watch. “Yeah, that was the plan.” He said before looking into the kitchen for where he had put his keys. “Unless you wanna relax a little since you just got home from school.” He added as he glanced back at Wes.

The boy nodded his head slightly as he started to make his way to his room. “Just a few minutes though.” He said softly. “Kinda wanted to grab something before we head over.” He added as he opened his bedroom door.

“Nothing sharp if you’re bringing it with you.” Neil said with a slight sigh. “Don’t want the nurses to throw something away just because they think it’s a threat.”

“I promise it’s nothing sharp.” Weston said as he stood in his doorway. “Just some stuff that I thought was kinda cool.” He added trying not to seem too suspicious before shutting the door behind him.

He leaned his back on the door for a moment before letting out a breath and moving further into his room. He made his way to his nicely made bed, kneeling down to look under it. He reached in underneath it, his fingertips barely reaching what he was aiming for as he tried his best to scoot it closer to himself. Once his palm had rested on the lid of the box, he eased it out from its dark prison. 

The box looked like any other ordinary shoe box, the lid being slightly discolored from years of use. The brand name being hard to read with how many times his thumb had been placed over it to open the lid. But what was in the box actually made it more valuable and important to Wes than anything else in his room. It was strange things he’d find in the apartments.

Wes knew that the apartments were off limits, but his curiosity always took the best of him. He wanted to know more about what happened that night, he wanted to know why his other dad had snapped. He had a weird feeling that something else had happened, that there was no way one person could be normal one day only to turn into an insane killer the next. He wanted answers, he wanted the truth. He always had a weird feeling that the news portrayed Todd as some villainous killer with absolutely no motive other than to just kill, as if he were a character from a cheesy horror movie.

Wes shook his head of these thoughts as he started to search through the box of things he felt would be useful in some way to get Todd to say something, anything really. He had a few new items in this small collection of his, getting them just a few days ago. Things in this collection always had something weird to do with it. There was always some type of weird rune or something that didn’t seem like it would have fit in an apartment. This item wasn’t any different. It was an odd stone that had been sitting in pieces nights before, finding them only because they were such a different color from the normal rubble. While everything else had a darker brown tint to it, these pieces were a weird green color with small amounts of purple bordering on some of the broken pieces. 

He couldn’t put his finger on what the mineral that created it could be but all he knew was that it was strange and something that didn’t fit in. He got what seemed like the final piece just a few nights ago, unsure if it really was the last piece until getting home and putting it together with the other pieces. It seemed to almost fuse together again without the need of some type of bonding agent. Wes had even tried to pull the pieces apart after only to find that it was just one full solid piece again. It was more than puzzling and something science just couldn’t explain what so ever. And what even happened the night he put the pieces together was even stranger… He stuffed the stone into his pocket before shutting the lid once again and shoving it under his bed again. 

Wes stood up from being on his knees, pushing himself to stand properly by placing his hand on the mattress to keep him balanced. He felt a little hopeful. Maybe this thing would be something that gets Todd to actually say something. He pushed his glasses back up on his face after they had been falling down the bridge of his nose, patting his back pocket to make sure he had his phone on him. He knew what his goal was for this visit and he aimed for it to be achieved.

*************************************************************************************************************************

The car ride to the asylum was just like any other car ride, almost as silent and as boring as the other ones were. Wes was sitting in the passenger’s seat, just watching the trees pass by as he tried to focus on his set mission, barely noticing when the car had come to a full stop and stayed that way for a moment. The sound of his dad’s seatbelt clicking made him look over to make sure they were actually here before moving to undo his own seat belt. 

“Ready, Weston?” Neil asked as he put his hand on the handle of his car door, waiting for a reply before even moving to open it.

Wes nodded his head as he gave his dad a slight smile. “Yeah, of course I am, pop.” He said with a lighter tone. “You think he’s in a good mood today?” He asked as he grabbed the handle of the car door and pushed it open.

Neil smiled back as he opened his car door, barely hearing the question as they were both exiting the car. “I would like to think so,” He replied back as he moved to the front of the car. “He was in one of his better moods earlier this week, so let’s just hope he is today, alright buddy?” He asked as he started to make his way to the front doors of the building. 

Wes followed behind Neil, letting his dad get a good distance away before pulling out his phone. “Yeah,” He said as he was a little distracted with opening the voice memo app and clicking record before slipping it back in his pocket. “I dunno if his mood earlier this week would affect today.” He said with a light sigh before speeding up a little more to catch up with his dad. “But I don’t mind crossing my fingers for a good mood.”

Neil smiled at his son before holding the front door open for him. “Good,” He said with a light chuckle. “Hopefully with both of us crossing our fingers, that’ll give us a better chance of him feeling a little better today.”

Wes stepped through the front door before having the warm, homey feeling he had with his dad was completely wiped but the cold feeling of the hospital. It wasn’t something new but it was always an unsettling feeling that he couldn’t get used to. He let out a breath as his dad made his way past him to the receptionist desk. He always stayed quiet and let his dad do the talking for both of them at this point. It was always the same conversation that strangers would have with each other, not really caring what the other was saying but only making small talk to be polite. Then they’d ask for his dad’s ID to make sure he was the same person he was last week and the week before that. He only watched from the side as the nurse would gesture to the chairs in the waiting room. 

There wasn’t ever really a point to sitting on the uncomfortable plastic, since usually minutes after they arrived they would be called into the back but his dad always seemed to take a seat. Whether it was to seem normal or polite, he couldn’t honestly tell. And it wasn’t any different from this time either.

A rather scary looking muscular man in nurses scrubs that seemed just a little too small, opened the door to greet them. “Douglas, Neil?” He called out as if they weren’t the only ones in the waiting room.

Neil looked toward the nurse, smiling slightly as he got up from the chair. “Come on, son.” He said lightly toward Wes as he made his way to the door. 

Wes felt his stomach form into knots as he knew the next part he was absolutely going to hate. It was the pat down. 

They stepped through the doorway and were led into another room that was always completely blank. No poster to make the room seem a little better, just white walls with plastic tables to place their items on. Both of them had to empty their pockets and put whatever contents that was in there before having the bigger man put his hands on them. Wes wasn’t a big fan of his bubble being popped but he was willing to deal with it just to be able to reassure these people that he didn’t bring anything harmful with him.

Once it was his turn, he placed the stone and his phone on the table with a light thudding noise. The nurse furrowed his brow as soon as he saw the rock leave Weston’s pocket, his eyes landing on the boy as if he were waiting for an explanation. 

“I thought it looked cool,” Wes said with a nervous tone. “The doctor said interaction and bringing thing I thought it might help his ment-”

“Arms up.” The nurse said completely unamused, disregarding anything the boy was even about to say.

Wes felt his smile go away before lifting his arms slightly, feeling the hands pat down his sides and go down his legs. He tried to escape in his mind to somewhere else, refusing to show that he was even being bothered buy this dumb procedure. 

When everything was said and done, the nurse didn’t even give them a warning that he was about to leave the room. He only stopped at the door way and glanced at Neil. “Follow me.” He said simply before continuing his way out the door and into the hall.

Neil continued to keep his light smile, trying to be polite as he followed behind the man and trying his best to keep his chin up for his son. He didn’t like the fact that Todd was even here in the first place, his heart aching at the thought of him being so alone in this facility with only weekly visits to look forward to. But he was a little more glad at the fact he was here rather than being given the death penalty. He honestly couldn’t imagine what his life would have been like if Todd had been executed, if he didn’t have Wes in his life. He made sure to count his blessings every day because of this fact. 

It wasn’t long before they were led to the familiar room that they would have visits with the red head before. The nurse opened the door and let out a sigh before speaking. “Sit down,” He started in a monotone voice. “He’ll be on the other side in a few minutes. No sudden movements when he gets in there, no touching or tapping the glass, don’t agitate the patient, and speak in a room volume voice. He’ll be able to hear you through the multiple hole in the glass separating you from him.” He added as he gestured for the other two to get into the room.

Weston was the first one into the room as soon as he saw the man gesture to them to enter, looking through the glass into the other empty room. It was also white, padding on the walls making him feel even more unsettled as he sat down in the familiar uncomfortable plastic chair. He didn’t move his eyes from the other room as he heard his dad sit in the chair next to him and the door close. 

They both sat in silence, anticipating the moment they would see the other door open. There weren't really any words to exchange in at this time, like this was their form of normal. Weston’s ears would burn with how silent the room was but refusing to break it to say something trivial to try and break the tension both him and his dad were feeling. 

The moment that made things change was seeing the door open on the other side, causing Wes to hold his breath waiting to see a nurse and his colleague bringing in a man dressed in a straitjacket. The man’s head hung low as he shuffled into the room and was sat down in the only chair in the room. One of the nurses looked through the glass and gave the two in the other room a light smile. 

“You folks have an hour and a half today with Mr. Morrison here.” He said lightly as he looked to his colleague and nodded his head to the door before looking at Neil. “If you need anything, don’t be afraid to come find one of us nurses or a doctor.” He added before heading to the door with the other nurse, shutting the door behind him. Wes could hear the click of the lock from the other side of the glass before his attention was brought to Todd again.

His head was still hung low and his eyes didn’t really meet with any specific thing. Wes didn’t really know what to say before looking to his dad to say something first.

Neil looked back at the teen before looking to Todd again. He kept a light smile as he scooted a little closer to the glass. “Hey Todd,” He said lightly to start. “It’s nice to see you again. You doing okay today?” He asked, not expecting an answer. He just did this to make it feel a little more normal. Like he would have this conversation with anyone else. He still waited like he was expecting an answer, watching as Todd kept his head hung and his eyes low. 

“You remember what today is at all?” He added as he let another pause stay in the air. Once again getting more silence, he looked over to Wes and gestured for him to get a little closer. “It’s our son’s birthday.” He added with a lighter tone. “He’s 16 today. Crazy how big he’s getting.” He added with a light chuckle. 

Wes felt a little uncomfortable and scared to get closer to the glass, knowing some of the past visits ended in Todd bashing his head against the glass. It was always a scary time of seeing the angry look in Todd’s eye as when he seemed determined to break the glass. He only scooted maybe an inch closer when his dad gestured for him to get closer. He kept his eyes on the other red head as he waited for a response or even to be looked at by the other. But he still kept his head down.

The hope that Wes had before died down a little at seeing how unresponsive Todd was being. He jumped slightly as he heard the door open to their side of the room, the thought of an escaped mental patient being the first thing that hopped into his head as he whipped it to the door. He felt a little relieved to see it being a doctor. A familiar one at that too. Dr. Shirley had been the physiatrist assigned to Todd a few years ago after his last one retired. 

The stocky man waited at the doorway and chuckled slightly at Wes’ reaction. “No need to worry, Weston.” He said lightly before looking at Neil. “I just need to speak to your father for a moment about Mr. Morrison’s progression.” He added as he stepped to the side for Neil to step into the hallway.

Neil looked over to Dr. Shirley before glancing back to Wes. “I'll be right back, son. It won't be too long I’m sure.” He said lightly as he stood up from his seat and stepped into the hall.

Wes watched as the doctor and his dad left him alone in the room, feeling his heart sink as soon as he watched the door shut. His eyes slowly moved from the door back to the man in the other room, only for his own eyes to widen. Todd’s head was no longer hung low, but now he was staring at Wes, making complete eye contact. Wes felt frigid as he saw those red eyes stare into his own. It freaked him out slightly. 

He took in a deep breath as he decided to put on a brave face, scooting even closer to glass than he was before. His eyes stayed on Todd’s as he moved closer. He shifted his jaw before opening his mouth to speak. “Um… Hello.” He said lightly, trying his best not to sound completely like a wimp. 

He stayed silent for a moment as they just stared at each other, a weird feeling coming up in his throat but trying to force it back down by speaking again. “I was kinda hoping that maybe… you could help me a little bit today.” He said lightly, pausing slightly as he looked toward the door for a moment. He made sure no one was about to open the door again before moving his hand to his pocket. He pulled out both his phone and the stone, leaving the phone in his lap before holding the stone in his hand and looking it at himself for a moment before holding it up for Todd to see. 

“Do you know what this is at all?” Wes asked as he held it a little closer to the glass. “I found pieces of it in the apartments. I don’t really know what this thing even is but I have a feeling that you do.” He said lightly watching his eyes for some kind of response.

It was amazing to see someone who was so emotionless before suddenly have a look of shock on their face. Wes felt hope once again as he watched Todd scoot closer to the glass as if he were trying to really examine what the stone was, but something about the look on his face told him he already knew something about it. 

“You do,” Wes said lightly. “Can you tell me anything about it?” He asked in hopes of getting more than just a simple shocked stare. The man didn’t hold his gaze with Weston any more, he was keeping it on the stone. 

Wes' eyes widened more once he saw the red head tilt his head slightly, looking quizzical at the stone in his hand before taking in a breath. Wes could feel his heart stop as soon as he saw the man’s lip part like he was about to say something, things racing in his head as he was actually about to hear his other parent speak for the first time ever. It was, in a sense, exciting. He had never thought that this was ever going to be possible. This was honestly all he ever wanted for his birthday. 

But those hopes were dashed away once the door opened again, quickly moving to stuff the stone into his pocket again and looking over to the door. He could see his dad was throwing on a smile. It was a type of smile that told him that he had just received some of the worse news he had in a long time. It always made his heart sink when he saw that forced smile.

Neil shut the door behind him as he sat down next to Wes again, a little surprised at how close his son was to the glass. He was even more surprised to see the tail end of Todd turning his head to look back down at the ground. “What’s happening here?” He asked with a slightly flabbergasted tone.

Wes looked from his dad to Todd, only to feel everything he had crumble away. He furrowed his brow slightly in worry as he got the same man he had before. He felt a slight sadness start to build as he looked down at his phone in his lap.

“Nothing now,” He said with a slightly defeated tone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I've seen you've made it to the end here! Sorry I'm a little late with this chapter but in celebration of the 10th chapter, I have created a discord for this little au of mine! it'll mainly be a place to hang out, see some sketches I don't post, and ask a few questions! This is the link and I really hope to hear from ya'll soon!: https://discord.gg/HBNdHvM


	11. Home

The car ride was silent, weirdly so. It wasn’t something Sal was used to. He was used to hearing his daughter talk about some trivial thing that wouldn’t matter when she was older, not getting silence from Larry in the passenger seat. But he totally understood why. Larry has to process all the horrible information given to him minutes after being discovered while Sal had years to be able to really deal with it. He knew the emotions the other was going through and in a sense, he was still going through it himself. 

Sal would take glances over at the other in his passenger’s seat, his eyes still a little wide at the fact that the brunette was next to him. He felt a flutter in his chest every time he did so, having to pull his gaze from the other just so they wouldn’t crash. But a tiny thought in the back of his head had him hoping that Larry wouldn’t just suddenly disappear again. He couldn’t handle if this was his brain fucking with him, his heart would just break all over again. 

Larry, on the other hand, was staring out the window. Confused and heartbroken. Life wasn’t supposed to be this way for his boyfriend. It was supposed to be better. Everyone would have moved on with their lives without him and things would have just gotten better. He thought Sal would have a better life without him. But after hearing about what happened to his friends and family, he just couldn’t believe it. He couldn’t believe Sal had a baby. He had a daughter. The thought alone completely scared and confused him. 

What would it have been like if he had stayed? Would they have even raised a baby together? They didn’t ever really have a talk about having kids and it never seemed to have occurred in any of their conversations about the future. All he knew about Sal and kids was how he acted around Soda. It just blew his mind that he had and raised a kid by himself. 

He had admired his mom for doing the same thing and there was a whole new admiration for Sal doing the same thing. Somehow, Sal had managed to live through the grief of losing all the people that he knew and loved, suddenly having to then deal with taking care of a baby, and being a parent for that baby. That was something he knew he wouldn’t be able to deal with or even handle. Sal was amazing to him. 

He glanced over to Sal catching that he was being stared right back at, feeling like he should really say something but really unable to find the words to do so. This was weird. He thought he would have been punched, yelled at, be told he was dumb for doing something irreversible. But he was greeted to this. He didn’t yell at him, he didn’t seem angry and that made Larry feel even worse.

He would have felt a little better if Sal had reacted that way, he was justified in doing so and Larry wouldn’t have even questioned it. But Sal was treating him with kindness and letting him stay in his home. It made him feel guilty, like he didn’t deserve this treatment at all. He was completely consumed by this thought, not even realizing that they had even come to a stop. 

He looked out the windshield and raised his brows at the look of the house. It wasn’t the best looking house. Some of the paint was chipping and the gutters looked like they were desperately begging to be cleaned but it was still impressive that Sal even had a house to begin with. 

“It’s not much but it’s mine.” Sal said softly as he turned the car off and pulled the keys out of the ignition. “I promise it’s nicer on the inside than it is on the outside.” He added as he unbuckled himself and opened his car door. 

Larry got out of the car after another moment of staring at it, being greeted with a slightly chilly breeze as soon as the car door opened. He shivered slightly as he followed behind Sal to the front door. He didn’t know why but he felt a little more nervous to see that girl again. Maybe it was because he was about to intrude on her place, the fact that a complete stranger was going to sleep under the same roof with her was probably not the most comfortable thing to worry about. Fuck, what was he even going to say? Should he even say anything to her?

Larry was once again interrupted from these thoughts as soon as he looked at the blunette in front of him stepping inside and waiting for him to get in as well. He hesitated slightly in his movements before stepping inside as well, looking around the living room of this house. It was certainly a little cramped feeling with how compact everything was, seeing the dining room table just from the front door. The couch and recliner close together, knowing it was probably hard to even get the recliner to go back fully. 

Sal shut the door behind Larry as soon as he had stepped inside, moving his hands to the back of his head to take off his mask before pausing in the movement all together. He had a sudden feeling of fear that overwhelmed him. What if Larry didn’t like what he saw? He was different from how he looked 17 years ago and he knew it would have probably been another tragic thing that Larry had to deal with. He just moved to scratch his head, acting like nothing happened before turning to Larry. “Uh… So this is the living room.” He said as he gestured to the couch and recliner. “... You probably want some food? Maybe a shower?” He asked with a complete unsureness to his voice. 

He honestly didn’t know what he was gonna do with Larry. This was something he had only dreamed of and now that he had it, it was overwhelming for himself to have him here. 

Larry jumped slightly as soon as he heard the voice come from the emotionless mask. He would have thought that the other would have taken it off already since the door was close, shifting his jaw slightly before looking down at himself. “A uh- a shower would be really nice but I don’t have anything to change into.” He said as he gestured to his clothes being worn and a little dirty looking. “I don’t think-”

“I have some of your clothes.” Sal had interrupted as his eyes met Larry’s. “I took some of the boxes you had packed away of your clothes with me when I moved.” He added with a slightly nervous chuckle. “I just have to go up into the attic to find ‘em.” He added softly as he smiled behind his mask.

Larry looked at Sal with a little bit of worry before smiling back weakly. “You don’t have to do that right now,” He said lightly as he looked around the living room once again. “I could wait till when we go to bed to take a shower.” He added before looking at the couch. “Uh, the couch looks pretty comfortable.”

Sal stepped in a little more to stand at the foot of the stairs before pausing and cocking his brow at what Larry said. “Oh, you’re not sleeping on the couch.” He said lightly. “It’s not at all comfortable and I would feel bad having you down here. You’ll... actually be sleeping in my bed… If that’s alright with you.” He had a worried look in his eye as he waited for an answer from the other.

Larry looked a little wide eyed at Sal before nodding his head slightly. “Yeah, that’s alright.” He answered back softly. Great, another thing he didn’t deserve. He felt a little awkward just standing near the front door so he did what Sal instructed. Tried to make himself at home. He moved to the couch as best as he could without bumping his hip painfully onto anything before sitting down on the couch, getting a little better look around the room. 

It was strange seeing the years pass in pictures hanging on the walls. Like he had just entered some type of twilight zone episode seeing pictures of Sal and their daughter through the years. Pictures of a toddler and a teen almost next to each other as if to show the difference in how their kid aged. Some of the photos having Sal in them, still wearing that awful mask, and some of the photo’s having Ash in them, her smile looking just as goofy as the other girl in the picture. But his eyes stopped when they landed on a painting right above the television. He furrowed his brow in thought as he tried to remember where he had seen this canvas before. It looked familiar to him, like a landscape he had seen in a dream before. He was so affixed on it that he had jumped once again hearing Sal call up the stairs.

“Diane!” Sal called out as he looked up the stairs. “You up there?” He added to make sure she had actually gone home after their brief exchange. 

D jumped as well once she had heard Sal call up to her, sitting up in her bed quickly as she wiped her eyes from the tears that had formed. She wasn’t expecting them to be home this quickly, thinking it would have at least taken them an hour or two of being alone and talking about what had all happened. She thought she had enough time to just cry over what now seemed like a petty thing… 

“Yeah! I’m here!” She called back out, trying not to sound like she had been crying, still wiping her eyes. 

Sal looked up the stairs with an expression of worry on his face before looking back at Larry. “Uh, I’ve gotta deal with things, think you can handle being alone for a couple of minutes?” He asked as a worried feeling crept into his heart. He didn’t want to leave the other, that fear of Larry disappearing still in the back of his mind. As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t just drop all of his responsibilities as a parent just because Larry was here. 

Larry was staring like a doe in the headlights when he heard the question towards him, his mind slightly blanking as he didn’t really process the question at first. “Huh? Uh- No- Yeah, go take care of uh-” He paused for a moment as he was actually trying to remember the name of their kid.

“Diane.” Sal said lightly, feeling a little heartbroken at the fact that he didn’t even really know their daughter’s name. “Uh… Just stay here. I’ll be back down in a few.” He added as he tried to hide the somber tone before looking back up the stairs and starting to climb them. 

He stopped in front of Diane’s door, staring at the poster of “The Thing” on it for a good moment before knocking on her door. 

“Diane, sweetheart?” He asked in a soft tone. “Can I talk to you for a moment?”

All Sal could hear for a moment was silence in the other side, growing slightly more worried about her as he waited to hear footsteps, the creak of her bed frame, the wheels of her desk chair rolling on plastic, anything. He felt little relief when he watched the door open to a puffy, red eyed version of his daughter. He furrowed his brow behind his mask in complete worry. “Honey-”

“I don’t wanna talk about it,” D said as she sank into herself. “Uh, it was a tough day at school and I don’t want it to put a damper on things.” She added as she glanced slightly toward the stairs, trying to see if Larry was downstairs.

Sal let out a sigh as he gestured for her to sit on her bed. “It’s not gonna put a damper on things, sweetheart.” He said softly. “I need you to tell me what happened so I can help you out here, Diane.” He added as he moved his hand to tuck Diane’s still damp hair behind her ear. “So please talk to me.”

D kept her gaze on her mom before looking down at the ground and sighing, stepping to the side as she let her mom into her room. She waited as her mom stepped inside, peering out of her room as she was still trying to get a glance of Larry. She gave up on trying to see the other man before shutting her door and turning around, seeing her mom already sitting on her bed and patting an empty spot on her bed. 

She shifted her jaw and moved slowly to her bed, sitting down next to her mom. She stayed quiet, not wanting to be the first to speak about the shit day she’s had. She’d rather honestly not talk about it at all, wanting to keep her mom for worrying too much about her. 

“Baby, you have to tell me about what happened.” He said with a slightly worried tone. “You smelled horrible and from what I last checked, that wasn’t any kinda new perfume.” He added a little jokingly, honestly trying to lighten the mood and get her to confess a little easier.

D shifted her jaw and let out a sigh, keeping her eyes away from her mom. “Momma, I just… Kids are fuckin’ mean.” She said with a deep exhale. “Something happened to my locker and I don’t really wanna-”

“What happened to your locker?” Sal asked with a serious concern. He waited for a moment in silence, realizing she wasn’t going to speak. He let out another sigh as he moved his hands to the back of his head, undoing the clasps. He pulled the mask off his face and looked over to his daughter again. He gently grabbed her chin and moved her face to look at him. “Diane, let me help you. I’m worried about you and I’ll always worry about you. I care about you and I won’t sleep easy till I know what happened to you today. So please, baby. Tell me what all happened to you today.”

D felt her heart get heavy as she had to look at her mom, now maskless and showing the worry on his face. She felt her jaw vibrate and her eyes water as she couldn’t hide her emotion. Her throat started to hurt before she took a wavering breath to try and speak.

“I, uh, opened my locker… and there were some really nasty things in there.” She said with another watery breath. “There was a nasty smelling uh… goop? In my locker and they happened to write some awful things too. Gross little bitch, just join your dad already, your face is just as disgusting as the garbage you were fished out of. There was… way, way more, momma.” She moved her hand to wipe her eye before sniffling. “I’m sure Jan had something to do with it with how she smiled at me. They- they called me- ‘Aunt killer’, momma.” She added before just breaking down into sobs.

Sal's eyes widened and he felt a rage start to build up in his chest as he heard the horrible thing that happened to his little girl. He’d have to call the school, make sure some punishment was given to the kids who participated in this horrible little game of picking on his daughter. But right now, he had to be a comforting and caring parent. He moved his arms to wrap around, pulling her into a tight hug. He cradled her head tightly against himself, wanting to comfort her better.

“Diane, you know it’s not your fault,” He said softly. “You didn’t know the accident was going to happen. You couldn’t predict the future. You were both just at the wrong place at the wrong time. If Ash was here right now, she would tell you the same thing. What those kids say are horrible and not true, baby. You’re an amazing, gorgeous young lady and there will never be another you out there. You can’t let those people get in the way of you moving mountains, Diane.” He said as he pressed a kiss onto her head. “When you go to college, you’ll realize these kids aren’t gonna matter.” He added in a quieter tone. “I love you, Diane. You’re my everything.”

D didn’t argue back, she knew she couldn’t with how much air was gone from her lungs, crying into her mom’s chest. She felt a little better just being held tightly to her mom, but feeling a little selfish to be crying about something that’ll apparently seem so trivial later on. 

They sat in almost complete silence, only Diane’s sobs breaking through.


	12. All Nighter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has smut in it! this is my word of warning so I don't get caught by the spicy police! If you cannot handle that, you can skip this week's chapter.

Larry felt strange and odd sitting on the edge of Sal’s bed, his clothes smelling like they had been untouched in years. Moth balls and old musk slightly making him sick to even have the stench so close to his nose. He tried to keep his mind off of the smell and instead looked around Sal’s room. He noticed that these walls were a bluish tint of gray with the dim light of Sal’s lamp, adding onto the slight gloomy feeling of the room. The bed he was sitting on was actually kinda nice, much nicer than the mattress he had in the apartment. This mattress was weirdly cushiony and didn’t squeak when he adjusted himself or moved too much in it. But the odd thing to him was that there weren’t any posters hung on the wall, this room was slightly devoid of personality without the touches that proved Sal lived in here. It made him feel just a little… sad for the blunette.

He had barely even noticed that the door had creaked open even more as Sal had stepped into the room, turning his head before being greeted with the masked face again. Larry furrowed his brow slightly as he saw that Sal was wearing pajamas but still keeping his mask on.

Sal hesitated for a moment, shutting the door behind him as he kept his eye on Larry for that moment before moving through the room and throwing his clothes from the day into the hamper. He was silent as he put things into it, not really sure what to say to the other as he knew that the day was more than eventful… For both of them. He was a little caught off guard when he heard Larry speak after the few moments of silence between them.

“Why you still wearing the mask?” Larry’s voice cut through the silence. “When you gonna take it off?” Sal turned around to face the other and stared at the brunette for another long moment. This moment felt long too due to the silence meeting them once again. Sal started to pick at his hands as he stood in front of the laundry basket, shifting his weight slightly. 

“I guess once you’re asleep, I’ll take it off.” The blunette said lightly as he looked down at his hands, rubbing the spot he had just picked at. “I just don’t wanna freak you out anymore than you already-” 

Sal stopped talking once he felt Larry’s hand touch his own. He looked up once again seeing the worried look he was receiving from him. It made his heart ache slightly as soon as he saw it.  
“Baby, I’ve already seen you without your mask… What makes you think I’m gonna freak out?” Larry asked as he started to push himself from the edge of the bed to stand in front of Sal. He kept his furrowed brow in worry as he moved his freehand to Sal’s plastic cheek. He rubbed it with his thumb, feeling the warm smooth plastic as his thumb glided over it. He started to slowly inch his hand to the back of Sal’s head to undo the straps before being stopped by the other. His wrist being held tightly by Sal’s hand, seeing his eyes widen slightly as soon as he moved for the straps.

“Larry,” Sal said lightly. “I really have changed… I don’t look-”

“You think I care about that?” Larry interrupted before Sal would start his descent into downing himself. “I didn’t care about it before, I’m not gonna care about it now. Sal, you know I’m not gonna judge your looks, what makes you think I’m going to now?” He asked lightly as he moved his hand back to Sal’s cheek. “Besides, after all of this… I’m really needing a kiss from my baby blue.”

Sal kept his eyes on Larry as he spoke, still feeling nervous about letting the other see how much his face had aged. He shifted his jaw slightly behind his mask as silence was once again another communicator for hesitation. He let out a sigh as he slowly let go of Larry’s wrist, moving his eye to not look at the other. He didn’t want to see his reaction if it was bad. He knew he looked awful after years or prioritizing their daughter’s care rather than his own. 

The brunette took the release of his hand as an ‘okay’ for him to undo Sal’s mask straps. He once again moved his hand to the back of the blunette’s head and felt the strap’s clasp on his fingertips. He let go of Sal’s hand as he had to use the other one to help unclasp it. He knew it had released as soon as he heard the click and moved onto the top one and repeated the process. With both clicks it made Sal more and more nervous, his heart thumping in his chest as he felt the straps loosen on her head and dangle onto the back of his shoulders. 

Once the blunette heard the last click, he moved his hand to his mask to hold it on for a moment rather than letting it drop onto his carpeted floor. He kept hand there, even as he felt Larry’s finger on the edges of his mask.

“Sal, please.” Larry said lightly as he kept his fingers on the edge of Sal’s mask. “Do you need me to give you my word?.. If you want me to stop I can. I could just go downstairs and sleep on the couch if you don’t-”

“No,” Sal said immediately after Larry suggested sleeping on the couch, removing his hand hesitantly from the mask. He chose closing his eyes instead of keeping them averted, rather being blind to the reaction than seeing it out of the corner of his eye… 

Larry started to pull the mask away from Sal’s face and stared down at him as he slowly started to reveal his face. The familiar scars were still there, faded slightly over the time that had passed, his face showing his age as the brunette looked a little closer. Wrinkles under his eyes and the little bit of scruff on his chin showing that Sal really had aged, that years had passed…

He kept his eyes on the smaller man as he dropped the mask onto the bed behind him and moved his hands to rest on Sal’s cheeks. At this moment, he really felt like he missed out. He didn’t get to watch the other grow into this beautiful person, regretting the fact that he wasn’t there to see it. He smiled slightly as he let his thumb rub on the scarred cheek of the man he loved. “There’s that beautiful face I’ve been dying to see.” He chuckled lightly.

Sal opened his eyes as he heard the compliment, his eye looking up at the other and seeing the small smile on Larry’s face. He forgot how much he loved that smile and how much he missed it, feeling a flutter in his chest. He smiled a little nervously as he felt himself fluster. “You don’t really mean that.” He said lightly.

“I do,” Larry replied back instantly before leaning in to press a quick peck on his forehead. “I mean every word. You’re beautiful, Sal. Inside and out.” He looked down at the other as he kept his smile before his eyes traveled down to his torn lips. “Is it alright if I kiss you?” He asked lightly. 

Sal looked a little surprised once he heard the question, Being called beautiful and then hearing the other wanted a kiss only made his heart flutter more. He didn’t really reply with words, only nodding his head slightly as he leaned in a little more. He started to feel something that he hadn’t for a long time. Excitement. He hadn’t kissed another person in years and he was about to be able to do it again with someone that he had missed so dearly. He could feel his heart thumping again as he watched the other lean in. 

Once their lips met, Sal felt a shiver go up his spine. The way he had felt then was exactly how he felt years ago when they kissed. He felt loved and happy. For the first time in years, he could say he felt a romantic kinda love that he had been neglected of. He moved his hands to rest on Larry’s shoulders as he leaned in a little more to deepen the kiss. His attention now focused on this new feeling rather than the nervousness he had felt moments ago.

Larry was just as much lost in Sal as he was with him, feeling like it had been years since they kissed… Well, he knew that it had been years but he just couldn’t believe that they had eased into this already. He moved his hands from the sides of Sal’s face to rest on his hips, separating slightly as he looked at Sal’s face again. He was happy to not be greeted by the emotionless mask.

Sal looked back at Larry with half lidded eyes for a moment as he felt the hands on his hips, his mind wanting more of this kiss. He leaned in once again, pressing his lips onto the brunette’s again as he tried to put a little more emotion into it. His hands slowly moved down Larry’s chest and met with the edge of his shirt. He deepened the kiss a little more as he moved his hands to touch the skin underneath his shirt, sliding his hands back up to the other man’s chest.

Larry was a little surprised to feel the slightly freezing fingertips touch his skin, causing him to shiver slightly and grow more… Excited. He deepened the kiss further as he slid his own hands underneath Sal’s shirt to feel the warm skin on his own hands, wanting to feel more of the other and explore his body further. He wanted to see more of Sal’s body. He pulled away slightly as he stared at Sal for another moment. “Can we-” He started asking before stopping himself, feeling slightly nervous as he felt like he might have already been asking too much. He was already sleeping in the same bed as the other…

Sal stared back up at the other, listening to his question before his eyes went  
wide. He stayed silent for a moment before pulling away more from the other and started to walk away. This worried Larry even more. Once the brunette saw the other standing at his door, he thought he was about to see the door open and told to leave but was surprised to hear the clicking of a lock. And the surprise didn’t leave him as soon as Sal had made his way back, moving his hands to the edge of Larry’s shirt again and tugging slightly on it. 

“Take this off for me?” Sal asked in a whisper, keeping his half lidded eyes on the other, sounding a little desperate in his tone.

Larry kept his eyes on the other, smiling lightly as soon as he felt the tugging on his shirt. “You sure you want me to do that?” He asked back in a whisper. “Didn’t think you’d want to do anything tonight.”

The blunette nodded his head as he continued to tug on the shirt. “Larry, I’m more than sure I want this.” He quietly said as he started to move his hands under the shirt. “I’ve missed everything about you.” He added in a coy tone.

The tone that came off of Sal’s voice sent a shiver up Larry’s spine, now reacting purely on lust and excitement. 

He squatted down slightly to pick up the blunette, making sure his hands had a good hold of his partner before laying him down on the bed. He held himself above Sal for a moment, giving the other a slight smirk before sitting up and pulling the horrible smelling shirt off. He was honestly a little relieved knowing he didn’t have to worry about sleeping with that on tonight… 

Sal felt himself getting a little more excited as soon as he was picked up, giggling quietly as he was laid onto the bed and watched the brunette pull off his shirt. He put his hands on Larry’s sides as he pulled slightly on his to ask him to come back down.

Larry caught what Sal was doing, leaning back down once again, moving his knee in between Sal’s legs and pressing his lips against the blunette’s. He was savoring the feeling of Sal’s lips on his own, honestly really needing this kinda intimacy for a really long time. He kept one of his hands planted on the mattress to keep himself up as the other traveled back down and underneath Sal’s shirt again. His finger’s brushing over smooth skin that he loved the feeling of, warm and soft as ever. He separated slightly from Sal’s lips and started to press kisses onto his cheeks and traveled down to his neck.

Sal immediately felt himself getting flustered and excited when he felt the lips meeting sensitive skin, his member starting to harden as more kisses were being pressed on his neck. His hands moved to Larry’s chest once he had lowered himself down, finding it hard to believe that that was all he needed to be turned on, letting out small breaths filled with whimpers and pleasure as he started to slightly grind against the other’s knee.

Larry chuckled slightly against Sal’s neck as he felt him grinding against his knee, separating slightly from his neck to whisper in his ear. “Already so desperate for me?’ He asked playfully before his fingers started to trace back down to the edge of Sal’s shirt and to his pajama bottoms. “Why don’t we take these off, hmm cutie?” He asked before moving his lips back down to the crook of Sal’s neck and starting to nibble at the spot. He removed his knee from between Sal’s legs to make it easier for him to take off the bottoms.

Sal’s eyes widened at the request from the other, the nibbling at his skin driving him crazy. He took his hands off of Larry’s chest and moved his thumbs to the waistband of his own bottom’s, pulling them down and throwing them off the side of the bed. He felt a little exposed being only in his boxers and a shirt.

Larry moved his hands to Sal’s shirt again and started to let his fingers drag on his partner’s torso, pushing back more of the shirt and revealing more skin. Sal immediately put his hand on Larry’s to stop him from pushing up any further which caused the brunette to pause in his actions. 

“What’s wrong?” Larry asked lightly, making sure he wasn’t being rough with his partner. “You want me to stop?”

The blunette once again stayed quiet before letting out a breath. “I look gross.” He said as if warning him before he could look at his body.

Larry furrowed his brow in worry once he heard the warning tone from Sal. He then smiled and shook his head. “Don’t talk about my lover that way.” He whispered in a playfully stern tone as he separated more from Sal to sit up. He felt Sal let go of his wrist and watched as they moved to his face. He looked down at the other underneath him, seeing the tenting in his boxer. He chuckled lightly as he moved his hand to rub slightly on Sal’s member through the thin cloth before moving the other to push the shirt up a little more. 

He felt his smile fade slightly as he saw the stretchmarks on Sal’s stomach, another reminder that he had actually carried their child. He was a little stunned by it, being reminded of the fact that he once again didn’t get to see the other grow into the person they were underneath him... He shifted himself to lean down again, this time near Sal’s stomach and pressing gentle kisses onto the marks on his skin. “You’re perfect.” He whispered in a sweet and gentle tone. “I love this body.” 

Sal removed his hands from his face once he heard the other still loved his body, even if it looked like this. He was a little embarrassed at the fact that the other still had his looks and charm about him. He didn’t know whether it was the smile that showed off his gapped tooth or if it was the sweet words that left his lips at moments he needed them to, but he could feel himself falling for Larry all over again. 

“I really missed you, Lar,” He said with a slight wavering to his voice, already finding himself feeling silly for being so emotional. 

Larry looked at the other once he heard the wavering on his voice, shifting himself to meet with the other’s face again. “I’m here now and I’m not going anywhere anytime soon,” He said lightly as he placed a hand on the scarred part of Sal’s cheek. “You don’t have to miss me anymore, alright? I’m gonna be here for you no matter what.”

Sal didn’t know how to respond to that, feeling more emotional at the promise. He leaned up slightly to press his lips onto Larry’s once again, wanting to just enjoy this moment rather than think about the wrong doings that happened to him. He wanted to feel his partner, skin to skin, just like they had done years before.

The brunette was a little surprised by the kiss but understanding that was all Sal could do in that moment. Whether he trusted him or not, he just needed Sal to know he wasn’t planning on leaving him again.

Larry continued to slide his hands up on the blunette’s sides, continuing to push the shirt up even further as he revealed more and more of his torso. His ribs forming a beautiful curvature to his chest, the skin so pale it seemed to glow from the moonlight of the window. He separated from Sal only for a moment as he pulled the shirt off of him and immediately pressed his lips back onto Sal. 

Sal pressed hard against the other man’s lips once Larry was back on them again, his hand traveling down to Larry’s jeans and trying his best to undo the button with separating from the other. He barely did it before tugging at the cloth so he could pull them off.

Larry groaned slightly as he had to pull away once again to tug off his jeans, throwing both them and his boxers off the side of the bed. He leaned back down and started to move his kisses to the crook of Sal’s neck again, having to brush away his blue locks to get to it after pulling off his shirt. He began to nibble slightly at the other and moved his hand to the edge of the other’s underwear, stretching out the elastic slightly to slide his hand in to tease his partner.

The blunette was starting to become a horny mess, his neck being nibbled at and his lover’s fingers being dangerously close to the tip of his dick. He wanted more. He wanted Larry to be in him, craving this sensation for years.

“Baby,” Sal said through a breathy desperate tone. “I really need you to fill me- I need you to fuck me-”

This sent a shiver up Larry’s spine causing his dick to throb and his heart to flutter. The desperate tone was almost never heard of in the bedroom from Sal unless he was really needing it. He was quick with his action of pulling off Sal’s underwear, His thumb catching on the elastic and pulling down a little forcefully. He tilted his head slightly to whisper into Sal’s ear. 

“I wanna fuck you, baby blue~” He replied back in a low tone. “I wanna feel your ass hugging my cock~” He added as he started to shift himself between the other’s legs.

Sal’s eyes widened as Larry was already so eager to put himself between his legs. “Wait a second, sweetheart,” He whispered lightly as he pushed himself to sit up again, chuckling nervously as he did so. “Let me grab something to help us with that.” He added with a bit more of a nervous tone.

Larry cocked his brow slightly once the other had sat up. It was giving him some mixed signals. Did he want this? Or did he not? Was he forcing this on him? He furrowed his brow slightly in worry as he felt even more and more guilty about getting the other naked in his bed as he watched the other opening a drawer, the sounds of Sal starting to search through it being the only thing he could really hear against his heart beat. His guilt and worry started to ease away as soon as the blunette returned with a small bottle in his hands. He couldn’t help but laugh slightly. “Lube?”

Sal sank into himself slightly as he heard the chuckle come from the other, his scarred face flushing red as he started to feel ashamed of himself.

“Well, I mean,” Sal started with a tilting of head, side to side as to whether he wanted to confess on why he even had the bottle in the first place. “It’ll help with… you know. Instead of spitting on it and sticking it in.” He said with a slight chuckle himself and a nervous shrug. 

Larry chuckled once more at the words that left the smaller male underneath him, leaning down slightly as he pressed another kiss onto him. “Wonder why you would have a bottle of lube just laying around in your drawer.” He teased slightly.

Sal felt himself fluster again before opening the bottle with a slightly click. “Shut up,” He said with a light growl as he poured a small amount on his hand. “Teasing me isn’t really sexy you know.” He added with a slight snort as he pulled himself away from the other slightly, bringing his hand down to his asshole. He bit his lip slightly as he started to rub small circles around his ring of muscles, trying to build himself up into actually shoving his fingers into himself to stretch for the other.

Larry watched the other with a slight anticipation and excitement as the blunette slid his hand down to his entrance, feeling himself throb as he was finding it hard to keep himself under control. How could such a beautiful creature like this look just so good naked?...

After a few moments of just watching Sal practically teasing him with the sight of him rubbing lube onto his hole, growing impatient before pushing Sal to lay back down on the mattress. He pressed his lips against the other’s again, this time nothing could separate them, moving one of his hands down to Sal’s wrist. He grabbed it and moved it out of the way, pinning it to the mattress as his other hand traveled down to his entrance. His own fingers feeling the slick of the lube against his partner’s asshole, making it so easy to start pressing his middle finger in.

Sal let out a small gasp against Larry’s lips as he felt the finger slipping into him, a slight burning sensation in his hole as he wasn’t really expecting. He felt his lover hold it there for a moment, thankful he hadn’t just started to plunge his finger in and out of him just yet. He had to adjust to the new feeling, not having someone else to do this with since the other had died. He felt like a virgin. 

The blunette started to feel himself relax against the finger in him, pulling away slightly from Larry’s lips to let out a breath. His eyes stared at the brunette half lidded before his torn lips parted.

“Keep going,” He whispered quietly.

Larry smiled slightly as he heard the whispered wanting words, pulling his finger out little before pushing it back in. He repeated this a few times, curling his fingers slightly as he pulled out each time as he wanted to hear those moans from his lover again. He leaned his face down once again as he started to nibble at the crook of Sal’s neck before pushing his index finger into Sal as well.

The blunette bit his lip harder as the sensation of all these things happening to him, caused his mind to drift off slightly. His breath heavy and hot and his moans growing a little louder with each finger curl onto his prostate. He honestly didn’t think this would be where they would end up tonight but he was a little grateful for it.

As the time passed into minutes and Sal was slowly turning into a mess, Larry pulled his fingers out of him. The blunette let out another gasp combined with a slightly messy moan. He would have been embarrassed about it and completely covered his face, but this was his partner. Someone he was more than comfortable with and knew he wouldn’t have to be embarrassed over the small things he did. 

He felt his heart skip a beat as soon as he felt the warmth of Larry’s cockhead on his ass, his breath haltering as he made a slight whimpering noise. He was aching to feel the other in him, his body needing the satisfaction of being filled by the other’s dick in him. He moved his hand to the back of Larry’s head and gripped his long hair in his fingers and the other to rest on Larry’s shoulder.

“Larry~” the blunette said through a desperate tone. “Give me what I want~ I’ve been dying for something~”

Larry felt goosebumps as he heard the tone once again, smirking against the skin of Sal’s neck as he started to press into the other. He let out a low, soft groan as he felt his lover’s tight hole hugging his cock oh so nicely. “Fuck Sal,” He said breathily as he paused in his movements. He had to adjust to the nice feeling of his partner, his cock twitching in him.

Sal, on the other hand, whimpered as Larry pressed himself in. His hand gripped harder onto the hair clumped in his hand and almost dug his nails into his shoulder. He let out heavy breaths between little moans, pulling on the other to hold onto him a little tightly against his own body. “Fuck~ I forgot how this felt~” He whispered through an exhale. 

The brunette didn’t even register what Sal had even said, letting out exhales as he pushed a little further in before pulling back out and pushing in again. He continued to pump in and out of him slowly, his hands grabbing the pale hips of his partner gently before giving them a slight squeeze. He pulled away from Sal’s neck to look at his gorgeous face. 

“Tell me what you want, baby blue~” Larry whispered in a low soft tone. “I want my pretty little boy to feel good~”

The blunette shivered at the low tone, huffing out air with every pump into him. He tilted his head to look up at the other man above him, feeling like he was back in Larry’s room again like all those years ago. Acting like the lustful teens they were before taking in a deep breath. “I want you to show me I’m yours~” He moaned quietly. “I want you to mark me up so everyone else knows that I’m yours~” 

Larry was completely pleased with this answer, his face turning into a smirk as he understood too well what the other had meant. He placed his face once again into the crook of Sal’s neck, pressing light kisses onto his skin before sinking his teeth into him. He made sure not to break skin but hard enough to leave his partner wanting more.

Sal took in air through his teeth as soon as he felt the brunette bite down on his neck, making his cock throb at the sensation of pleasure that emanated from the spot. He couldn’t believe that was already stirring him kinda crazy. 

“Faster, baby~” He moaned out as he moved his hands to rest on Larry’s back. “I want you to go a little faster~” 

Larry felt excitement course through him again as he heard that he could go a little faster into the blue haired beauty underneath him. He released his teeth from the other’s skin before slowly starting to speed up his pace. His breath becoming heavy against Sal’s neck, low moans and groans leaving his mouth as he pumped into the other.

After a few moments of pumping steadily into the other and sharing noises of pleasure, Larry wanted to get more aggressive with the other. He wanted to hear the moans become louder and more frequent than what he had been hearing now.

Larry pulled his lips away from Sal’s neck again and rested his head on the pillow before starting to become rougher with his pumps. His hands on Sal’s hip stayed tightly gripped as he started to pull the other onto his cock. His breath became heavier at the slickness of Sal’s ass and the fact that he was now doing more work. He pressed light kisses onto his skin again before sinking his teeth into the blunette again, sucking on his neck as he wanted to see the result of a nice purple hickey on Sal’s neck that would let anyone else know that the blunette was his and his alone.

Sal gasped out as soon as he felt the rougher pace against his walls, one of his hands moving to cover his mouth as he wanted to muffle the louder moans that were coming out of him. He knew they had to be quiet, their daughter’s room being mere feet away but he couldn’t help himself. This was feeling too good to not vocalize.

His eyes rolled back as the breath leaving his cavern of a nose was hitting hard against the back of his hand, his other digging into Larry’s back as he was continuously being thrusted into with such force. He found himself wanting more, driving him insane that he wasn’t getting enough of this treatment. He decided the best route of getting what he wanted was to push Larry’s buttons, his clawed hand now being dragged down his partner’s back.

Larry let go of Sal’s neck only to hiss through his teeth, the slight sting of the nails scratching into his skin causing him to pause in his action to move himself to sitting up. He removed his hand from Sal’s hip to his neck, the inside of his fingers now wet from the remaining drool left on Sal’s skin.

“That wasn’t a very good boy kinda thing to do, was it, baby?” Larry asked as he started to press into Sal a little harder. “Why would you wanna hurt me, hmm?” He added as he started to put pressure on the sides of Sal’s neck. 

Sal’s eyes rolled back into his head as he felt the squeeze on his neck, his head starting to spin at the sensation of being choked and rammed into like this. He was a little surprised when he felt another hand grab his wrist and pin it to the mattress. He looked up at Larry again to see him inches from his own face.

“Can’t answer me when you have your mouth covered, baby blue~” Larry teased through a growl. “You know how much I love hearing those little moans and whimpers of yours, so why stop yourself?~” he added in a coo as he pressed a few kisses on his cheeks. 

“I can’t,” Sal breathed out, his moan threatening to become messy. “I wanna be quiet-“

Larry chuckled breathily as he squeezed on Sal’s neck once more, holding the tightness for a moment before releasing. “I wanna hear those pretty little noises you make, lovely~” He said with another chuckle, low tone sounding thick and sweet like honey. “I love hearing you whimper for me to give you more~” 

Sal felt his core get a little warmer as he heard the tone that always made his heart flutter. God, how he had missed that tone… His head started to feel a lighter after Larry held his neck so tightly. He moved his other hand from Larry’s back and moved it to his neck to rest on top of the brunettes. “God, you make me feel like a fucking king~” he whimpered out as he started to desprately shake underneath his partner, wanting Larry to push harder into him. He couldn’t help the mess he was starting to become, anyone else would after years of not having anything like this.

Larry smiled even more at the fact he was making the other feel so good by just pumping into him like this, leaning down and pressing his lips against the other’s. He wanted a taste of Sal while pumping into him, wanting the feel of his torn lips on his own.

He was a little obsessed with the taste of Sal. Hell, he was obsessed with Sal in general. The way his personality was and the feeling he gave people when they were around him always made Larry feel so special to have him. But right now, he needed to pound into him harder. Give Sal what he wanted with how he was moving underneath him.

He started to press his cock harder into him, his nose letting out heavy breaths against Sal’s face as they kissed. With each hard pump in, he could feel pressure build in his core. Larry wanted to last just a little longer so the other could cum, not wanting to disappoint. He decided the best way to push him to his edge was through dirty talk.

He pulled his lips away and rested his head back on the pillow again. “You know your little ass feels so fucking good, don’t you baby blue?~” he cooed in a pleased tone. “You’re little hole feels so nice and tight for me~” Larry started to squeeze Sal’s neck for a moment as he waited for some kind of response from the other.

Sal’s mind was completely lost. He was more focused on the sensations hitting him with every passing moment, barely even registering the words Larry said. He nodded his head slightly as he continued to moan out, trying his best to keep it quiet and under control but finding so hard to do. “I love the feeling of your thick cock stretching out my little ass~” he replied in a messy moan. “Fuck Larry~ I want you to cum in me~” He added as his head was practically spinning from the fingers holding his blood from traveling to his brain. 

Larry smirked slightly as he heard the response from his partner. So messy… “You want me to cum in you, blue?” He asked as he relaxed his hand on Sal’s neck before pressing kisses onto his lover’s face. He let go of Sal’s wrist moving it back down his body again and wrapped his hand around the blunette’s erection, starting to stroke him off to the pace of his own pumps into him. “Then Imma need you to cum too, Sally.” He cooed through his heavy breaths.

The blunette let out a slight gasp of surprise as he felt the other starting to stoke him off, his head tilting back and his moans becoming much louder. He moved the now freed hand to his mouth as he could feel himself getting so much warmer. He was losing himself completely into the feeling as he was growing so much closer to his climax. He didn’t want this to end so shortly but he just couldn’t hold himself back. 

After a few strokes of Sal’s cock, the blunette felt himself release into his partner’s hand. He tensed and twitched as he felt the orgasm go through his body like waves, his moan messy and loud even through his hand. His eyes were rolled back as he let out heavy breaths against the back of his hand.

Larry felt himself shiver at the sight of his partner cumming, making his dick twitch inside of the now tighter hole. He loved this. The sight of something so beautiful becoming so messy just made his own mind stir. He moved his hand from Sal’s dick and moved it back to his hip, pulling the blunette closer as he bucked into him.

He wanted to desperately finish like the other did but that thought slowly made itself present in his head. The thought of having another little accident that resulted in a daughter he didn’t even know about deciding to plant itself into his brain. He didn’t want that kinda thing to happen again, forcing him to pull himself out of Sal and starting to stroke himself off onto the other’s stomach. 

Larry felt himself crumple slightly as he came onto Sal’s torso, a low and long groan leaving his mouth as he did so. His grip stayed tight on the blunette's hip as his breath hit heavy and hard against Sal’s skin. The ecstasy he felt muddling his mind slightly to even forget where he was for a moment. 

Only the sound of their heavy breathing being heard in the room for moments on end before either one of them moved. The first to move was Larry, letting go of Sal’s hips to start looking on the floor for his shirt to help clean up himself and his partner. He leaned over and reached down to the floor and grabbed it, balling it up slightly to wipe down the mess he made onto his partner. “Damn Sal.” He said through a breathy voice.

Sal felt himself go from feeling like he was on top of the world to close to passing out, his eyes closed as he felt the fabric on his skin before opening them to look at his partner. He moved his hand from his mouth to push his hair back and chuckled breathily. “Feel good?” He asked through the chuckle before letting out a sigh. “Cause it felt really good for me too.”

The brunette laughed lightly at the chuckled words as he cleaned himself up and threw the now dirty shirt into the hamper. “Yeah, it felt pretty good.” He replied as he shifted himself to lay down next to the other and finally felt comfortable. “God, you looked so good with your eye rolled back like that.” He added as he pulled the covers over both of their bodies, scooting himself even closer to Sal and wrapping his arms around him. He smiled widely as he buried his face into the blue locks of his partner, happy that he can even be this close to him.

Sal chuckled lightly as he listened to what Larry had said, placing a hand on the arms that wrapped around him and staying silent for a long moment in the sereness of the room. He could feel the other man starting to fall asleep by the feeling of his breath on his neck as a question snuck into his head. “Is this a dream?” He asked lightly, tilting his head to look up at the other, his eye staying on him as he studied his face in the moonlight. “I’ve had dreams like this before and I wake up to an empty bed… How do I know you’re gonna be here in the morning?” He asked lightly.

Larry furrowed his brow slightly at the other’s question, staring at Sal for another moment before smiling slightly. He pulled away from Sal’s neck and moved his hand to tuck the hair behind his ear, letting it trail down to Sal’s hand and placing it on his own chest. “Then we’ll stay up.” He whispered lightly. “No waking up if you don’t fall asleep.” He added as he pressed a kiss onto Sal’s head. 

The feeling of Larry’s heartbeat underneath Sal’s fingers brought him some ease. The thought of no longer having the brunette with him and this being a dream again putting some ache into his heart. Once he heard the suggestion of staying up all night made him smile. He nodded his head slightly as he moved a little closer to the other and rested his head on Larry’s shoulder, keeping his hand on the other man’s chest. 

With this plan of not falling asleep, Sal was now looking forward to laying bed with the one he had missed being in his bed the most.


	13. Mornings, Memories, n' Mom

Larry opened his eyes after the sunlight seemed to be pouring in, moving one of his hands to rub his face as he slowly started to register where he was. He opened his eyes slightly to see the blunette on his shoulder, still sleeping soundly. He smiled as he tried to remember when they had fallen asleep. The faint memory of just staring at each other with no words spoken, just enjoying each other’s time awake and alone. He guessed sometime during that they just fell asleep.

He laid there for a moment admiring how peaceful Sal looked in his sleep, the curve of his body nice underneath the blanket that was covering them. He couldn’t believe how lucky he even was to get to look at this amazing creature even after what he had done to himself. He was lucky that he was even treated so nicely by Sal, let alone to even have this second chance. He had to find a way to pay him back for his kindness toward him...

Larry leaned in slightly as he pressed a kiss onto Sal’s forehead, gently enough to try and not wake him before trying to pull his arm out from underneath the other. He looked around the room for his clothes that he had recklessly thrown off. Pants and underwear were on the floor near the bed and he knew that his ruined shirt was in the hamper. He furrowed his brow slightly as he tried to remember where Sal had placed the box of old clothes from the attic, also mentally preparing himself for the awful smell that came with old cloth kept in boxes.

He moved himself to the edge of the mattress and sat there for a moment as he rubbed his eyes. Maybe he could do something sweet for the other to show some gratitude like making breakfast..? He honestly felt his mouth water at the thought of actually having something to eat since they didn’t have the chance to eat before going into the attic to look for the box that contained his clothes. 

The brunette got up from the bed, a little shocked at the feeling of cold on his skin as he grabbed his underwear from the floor along with his pants, tugging them on as he looked around the room. He made sure to be silent as he paced through the room, not wanting to disturb the other still sleeping in the bed. His eyes finally met with the closet and saw the corner of the cardboard box poking out of the doorway slightly, kneeling down to it to look through the other shirts in here. 

He had almost forgotten about a few of these shirts and the memories that they brought. A few of them reminding him of the late nights of having his eardrums ruined by loud concert music and late nights of trying to avoid going home. Digging through the box of fond memories through wiry and thorny designs on shirts, he finally settled on one that he thought could possibly fit a little better than the others. The horrible smell of mothballs returned filling his nostrils with the scent that almost made him cough and gag as he got up from the floor. He slowly but surely made his way to the door, opening and closing it as quietly as he could.

Once in the hallway, he finally felt better about not having to watch out for any small creaks or noises that could wake the other. He started to make his way down the stairs before hearing a faint sound of music. I wasn’t something he had heard before, at least from what he could hear. But he did know it was coming from the kitchen.

His ears began to register more sounds, the clinking of a plate touching the counter and the clicking sound that always came after turning off a stove top. He peered his head through the archway to see the girl that had claimed to be his daughter yesterday. Seeing her just living like nothing had happened was interesting to him, not that he was a fan of people watching. It was just kinda surprising to see someone go through the shock of a lifetime after seeing their supposedly dead dad to only be making eggs the next morning with a tired look on their face. He then started to think on how he would react if he saw his dad again.

He was brought out of this thought process as soon as he saw the blue eyes land on him, making his own eyes grow wide. He gave the girl a slightly nervous smile. “Uh, Good morning,” He said with the sound of sleep in his voice. He hadn’t really expected it to sound that groggy nor as intimidating as it had sounded which made him even more nervous.

D kept her eyes on the man as she hadn’t really expected anyone else to be awake right now, her eyes just as wide as Larry’s. She felt a little nervous about even being in the same room as a stranger alone. The nervousness hitting her chest making her heartbeat a little faster as she tried to think of a way to respond. “Um… Good morning to you too.” She said back in a small voice as she looked over to her phone and tapped on the screen to pause the music she was listening to.

The silence between them grew for a moment, making the air thick with awkward tension before D decided to take a breath and speak again. “You… hungry at all?” She asked lightly, grabbing the plate of eggs that she had obviously made for herself and held them out to him. 

Larry cocked his brow at this kid, finding it kinda sweet that she was just handing him the food she had just finished making. He brought his hand up to stop her before shaking his head slightly. 

“You should eat that,” He said with a light chuckle. “Dunno if you poisoned it or something.”

D couldn’t help but slightly chuckle at the joke before shaking her head, still holding the plate out to him. “I’m fine with making another plate. Why would I try to poison you when you just got here?” She added as she nudged the plate toward him.

Larry smiled slightly as he shook his head again before making his way further into the room. “I’m good really. Was planning on making me and Sal some breakfast anyway. So I’m willing to wait a little on eating.” He added as looked around the small kitchen and made his way to the fridge, opening the door to see what was inside.

The other brunette nodded her head before looking back down at her plate, rubbing the edge of it with her thumb before setting it down again and crossing her arms. D leaned against the counter as she grew a little more curious about this man. “So… how did you sleep last night?” She asked lightly as she shifted her jaw. “Heard mo-... Sal talking in his sleep… He didn’t keep you up did he?” She added trying to avoid the word since she didn’t want to see him freaking out. 

Larry felt his face flush red as he heard the question leave the girl’s mouth, refusing to move his face away from the fridge as he tried to make it look like he was still searching for something to make. 

“No, he didn’t keep me up,” He said simply before going completely silent. He felt like he was caught, like maybe he should have been a little more careful with how he was treating the blunette last night… He hummed slightly in thought as he tried to think of something to talk about with the other. 

“Uh… So... You’re my kid?” 

D cocked her brow right after hearing the question, looking down at the floor before nodding her head. “Uh… yeah, I guess I am.” She said with a slightly nervous chuckle. “Might be kinda hard to tell since me and mom are practically twins.” She joked slightly to lighten the mood before realizing that she had called her mom ‘mom’. 

“Erhm… Uh, I mean Sal.” She corrected in a slight fluster as she looked at him to make sure he wouldn’t say anything.

Larry slightly tilted his head to look at D and cocked his brow slightly in confusion as to why she was correcting herself or even why she was calling Sal ‘mom’. It was certainly strange to him, opening his mouth to say something about it.

Once Diane saw the look of confusion and his mouth opening, deciding to change the subject before he could even speak. “You like to paint, right?” She asked quickly, the words practically falling out of her mouth. “I mean Sal and Ash would talk about it all the time and how you were really good at it… They said you painted the one in the living room.” She added as she nodded toward the living room.

Larry turned his attention from the teenager to the living room, pulling his head out of the fridge and realizing she was talking about the painting he had been staring at yesterday night. It suddenly hit him that he had indeed spent time on that painting. He remembered what he had felt like when he had painted it and the ridiculous amount of time he had spent on it. He remembered how he felt when he painted it...

His eyes stayed glued on it for a moment before looking back at the teen and nodding his head, giving her a slight smile. “Yeah, I like to paint.” He said lightly as he looked into the fridge again, grabbing the carton of eggs and a stick of butter. “I used to do it a lot more for myself before college hit and then it started to die down a little as I was getting my degree.”

Diane raised her brows as she heard the word ‘college’ and ‘degree’ before furrowing her brow with a quizzical look. “You went to college?” She asked as she tilted her head. “What were you majoring in?”

Larry paused for a moment as he tried to remember what he was majoring in, furrowing his brow hard as he hummed in thought. “I was about to major in Drawing and Painting. Only had a semester left till I was about to graduate.” He said before placing the eggs and butter down to look around the kitchen. “Where do you keep your pans?” He asked as he continued looking around.

D listened as she was a little surprised he actually was trying to major in something he seemed to enjoy. This was completely the opposite of what she was planning on doing. Her plan was to get her mom out of debt and make life a little easier for him... She shook her head at the thoughts before she pointed to the oven. “Uh, we keep all pots and pans in the oven but I mean I could wash the pan in the sink so you won’t have to dirty up another one.” She said before she grabbed her plate and moved it to the microwave just to keep it warm instead of letting her food get cold. 

She shut the small door with a click before making her way to the sink. She turned on the faucet and let out a small sigh as she saw that they were out of dish soap. She kneeled down in front of the cabinet before opening them. “What were you planning to be with a major like that?” She asked lightly as she grabbed the bigger bottle of dish soap and stood back up.

Larry leaned against the counter as he waited for the teen to hand him the pan, not really expecting this man questions to be asked of him. But then again, he was her dad, weirdly enough… 

“I was planning on doing freelance work for a little bit, maybe traveling around with Sal for a while and escaping this town.” He said with a slight shrug. “I didn’t really ‘have a plan’ for after college. I just knew I wanted to leave.” He added as he kept his eyes on the girl, studying her profile slightly. It was crazy to see some of his looks on this teen. The hair, the baggy eyes, the nose… All of it inherited from him. 

It hit him again that he had missed out on years of life. He didn’t get to see this young lady, his daughter, become who she was. He only got to see the pictures on the wall of her from younger ages, only able to grab what she looked like but not how her personality had changed. He felt oddly scared now that he was sort of a part of her life now. He had no clue how to handle this situation what so ever. He was barely learning how to be an adult the last time he checked and now he was supposed to be responsible? Was he expected to take on any responsibility? He barely registered that she was looking at him expectantly, like she had asked him a question.

“Sorry,” He apologized as he looked around slightly, trying to ground himself and trying hard not to freak out. “What did you say?”

D furrowed her brow in worry before chuckling nervously. “Uh well, I asked you why you wanted to leave town and where did you want to go before turning my head and seeing you staring at me.” She furrowed her brow even further and her small smile turned into a slight frown. “Is it my nose?” She asked as she brought her wet hand to her face. “I know other people kinda find it a little funny looking and too long.” She added a little quietly as she went back to washing the pan, trying her best to scrub off the left over egg.

Larry shook his head almost immediately as he heard her question. “No, I wasn’t staring at your nose… Well I guess I was.” He said with a slight chuckle. “I kinda dazed off a little bit. It’s just- pretty damn crazy that you have my nose.” He said, trying not to sound completely flabbergasted.

D chuckled slightly as she brought the pan out and moved it to the other sink, wanting to dry her hand fist before rubbing the pan down with a not so damp towel. “Yeah I’ve got your nose and your long, thick hair too.” She said as she rolled her eyes, quoting her mom as she grabbed a towel hanging from a drawer and drying her hands on it. “All I really wanted was your height.” She added a little jokingly before going quiet again and grabbing the pot from the sink to dry it too.

Larry chuckled slightly before shrugging, staying in the silence once more. He started to feel a little more at ease as he spent more time with the girl in the kitchen. He honestly wanted to know a little more about her too…

“Do you paint at all?”

D looked over to the man as she skimmed the towel on the metal, her face shifting into one of slight uncomfort. “Uh… I mean, kinda?” She said through a small voice and just stopping there.

Larry snorted slightly as he cocked his brow. “Kinda?” He asked with a chuckle. “You wanna tell me more? What medium do you use? What do you usually draw?”

D felt herself flustering slightly as she finished drying off the pan and handing it to the other brunette. “I draw on the computer… Sometimes in a sketchbook… I like drawing characters from different things...” She said simply with a shrug as she hoped that was enough of an answer. 

Larry cocked his brow as he noticed she was giving very short and blunt answers, his plan of wanting to know more about her seeming to backfire. He took the pan from the teen and let out a breath deciding that he wasn’t going to give up. 

“So,” He started as he turned to pot the pan down on a burner and turned it on. “Why do you call Sal mom?” He asked as he had honestly been curious about it since he had first heard her say it.

D flustered completely again, feeling her hairs standing on end as she heard the question asked so directly. People always just kinda gave her a weird look or would correct her and tell her that Sal’s her dad. She started to pick at her nails as she looked down at the ground to avoid eye contact as she leaned against the counter and shrugged slightly. 

“I dunno,” She said with an uncertain tone, more than afraid of being judged. “It’s kinda dumb and silly.” 

Larry opened a few drawers as he listened to her speak before scoffing slightly. “I live for dumb and silly.” He said with a lighter tone trying to make her feel better. “If you think I’m an all serious all the time type of guy, you are very wrong.” He said with a snort. “Come on tell me.” He added as he finally found the silverware drawer and grabbed a butter knife. He looked toward her with a slight smile on his face. 

D shifted slightly as she grew a little more uncomfortable, she didn’t like the thought of sharing anything personal about herself and was more than scared to. Was her dad going to judge her for it? Was he going to make fun of her after gaining her security of explaining why she called Sal mom? She opened her mouth to start in a sentence but was choking up slightly. She couldn’t speak, her heart was thumping in her chest as she didn’t like the eyes on herself. She opened her mouth again to try and speak before being cut off.

“Diane was two when she first called me ‘mom’.” Sal said with a slightly tired voice as he leaned against the doorway. His smile present on his face as he looked over to Diane. He made his way further into the kitchen and leaned against the counter next to his daughter. “I wasn’t too sure on what I wanted her to call me at this point. I was technically her dad since I am a man but I honestly felt like because she came from me, that mom would work too. But I couldn’t decide so I let Diane pick out what she was going to call me.” He said before hip bumping Diane lightly. “Go on,” He said lightly, trying to encourage her to speak. 

D was a little surprised to say the least as she saw her mom come into the kitchen. She fiddled with her fingers again as she took a deep breath. “Uh, apparently mom was real sick one day… Like ‘unable to breath with his mask on’ kinda sick…” She started as she felt herself getting nervous, looking to her mom to make sure she was doing okay. Once she saw the smile and nod come from the blunette she continued on.

“Uh… This was around the time he was a little scared to show his face to a baby like me, thinking I’d scream and cry because of how scary he looked… but continuing on… He couldn’t go to work and he couldn’t really drop me off anywhere since daycare was kinda expensive, so he called Ash to see if she could come up and watch me for a little bit so mom could take some medicine and get a nap in. When Ash got there I was exchanged off to her and mom went off into his room. Well, you know Ash, she got kinda distracted with a call from a potential client and wasn’t paying too much attention to me...” She paused once more as she could feel her cheeks grow red with embarrassment. 

Once Sal saw this he felt like he could give her a break for even getting this far into the story. He leaned over and pressed a kiss onto her head, making sure not to stretch his neck too far to reveal the hickey underneath the turtleneck he wore. He let out a breath as he pulled away and leaned against the counter correctly again.

“Little troublemaker over here decided she didn’t want to be around aunt Ash anymore and decided to head to my room where the door was slightly cracked in case there was any kinda emergency.” He said as he looked over to Larry. “She crawled up onto my bed and before I could even reach over to the night stand to grab my mask, her tiny little hands were on my face.” He said with a light chuckle. “And her very first words I heard out of her mouth?.. ‘Lub mum’.” He added in a coo before chuckling even more and shaking his head. “Oh you should have seen us, Lar. Ash rushed immediately into the room cause I was bawling at her first words. From that point on I was mom.” He then looked over to Diane and hip-bumped her again. “You better be proud of yourself. You made a grown man cry over the being called ‘mom’.” He said with a joking, playful tone.

Larry felt his heart flutter and grow warm at the story and the way it was being told. He couldn’t help but chuckle slightly at the thought of a tiny little toddler saying two words to word that could melt hearts. He honestly really wished he could have been there for it… He looked over to the teen and snorted as soon as he saw how bright red she turned. It reminded him of the embarrassed feeling he would get when his mom outed him. 

D scratched the back of her neck and pushed herself away from the counter. “Uh… Imma go eat now before I embarrass myself even further.” She said as she grabbed her plate from the microwave, once again closing it with a click before making her way out of the kitchen and into the dining room. 

The blunette felt a small victory in getting her to spill on some of her past without seeming like she was going to be judged. He pushed himself off of the counter as well before making his way to Larry and pressing a kiss on his cheek. “You came down here without saying good morning.” He said lightly as he looked over the other man’s shoulder. “Gave me a little bit of a scare.” He added as he let out a breath.

Larry’s eyes went wide as he realized it did kinda look like he just disappeared, smiling a little nervously at the other. “Sorry, I didn’t really think about that.” He said with a nervous tone. “I was honestly thinking more on doing something nice for you, like making you breakfast… which I’m stalling on right now after hearing that story.” He said as he turned his attention back to the stove and putting a few slices of butter into the pan, letting them sizzle and melt before putting the stick back down.

Sal hummed slightly as he nodded his head, smiling as he stayed close to the other. “You didn’t have to make me breakfast,” he said through a whispered chuckle. “Honestly, I should be making you breakfast.” He added with a chuckle before leaning on Larry’s shoulder as he cooked. He scrunched up his face though after getting a slight whiff of the other’s shirt.

He kinda realized that the other only had the old box of shirts and maybe another pair of jeans and underwear. All of it old and all of it probably moth eaten and smelling just as bad as this shirt smelled. He really felt like he should change that…

“Hey,” He said lightly as he moved his hand to the middle of Larry’s back and rubbed it slightly. “How do you feel about getting new clothes?”


	14. Thrifting

Diane just couldn’t understand why she had to tag along with the other two to go shopping for clothes. When she asked about why she couldn’t just stay home, Sal said that this was an opportunity for Larry and her to get to know each other. It’s not that she didn’t want to go but it was more of the fact that she felt a little safer in her own home. There wasn’t any chance of being spotted by someone at school or someone saying something about her mom’s mask. It just didn’t seem like the best way to be ‘bonding’ with her dad.

She made it kinda obvious that she wasn’t into the idea, crossing her arms as she sat in the backseat of the car and watching as the trees passed by out the window. She felt a little awkward not being in the passenger’s seat, her knees being pressed up against the back of the front seat. It was a weird sensation of having the pressure of foam, never really having that feeling at all when Ash rode in the car with them. They were all kinda short enough for everyone to sit comfortably in their own spots but it seemed different with Larry. 

He was much taller than either her or her mom. He could have easily towered over her if he didn’t slouch whenever he stood. But even then, he was still pretty tall against her smaller frame. It was even crazy to actually see how tall he was to her. The only reference she had was pictures that he had taken with Sal and even then they were flat images. It was just a little jarring to see it in real life even after having him be dead this whole time...

She was brought back to reality after hearing the breath being taken in by the person in the seat in front of her. 

“So, uh… Thanks,” Larry said to break the silence that grew in the car, looking over to Sal and giving him a slight smile. “For doing all this for me. I really think your doin’ too much already and-”

“It’s no big deal,” Sal said as he kept his eyes on the road. “I wouldn’t let go wandering around trying to figure out what to do all on your own.” He added as he let out a sigh, glancing into the rearview mirror to check on his daughter. His brow furrowed slightly in worry as he saw her posture staying the same as she had entered the car. He tried to think on a subject that they could all talk about to ease her into conversation.

“Uh, Diane, what did you wanna do this weekend, sweetheart?” He asked with a lighter tone of voice. “Maybe we could watch a movie that you like or play a video game?” He gave a small gasp like he had just realized something. “You’d actually have someone to play with that’s better than I am in some of those fighting games you play.”

Larry’s brow raised at what Sal was saying before turning around in his seat to make eye contact with D, smiling as he tried to make himself seem more friendly. “You like playing fighting games?” He asked in a cheerful tone. “Got any particular favorites?”

D glanced at the other brunette, feeling slightly angry at the fact that her mom was trying to pull her into conversation. She could obviously see what he was trying to do and she really didn’t want it to work. “Uh… yeah, I like fighting games…” She said in a small voice. “No particular one though…” She lied as she moved her gaze out the window once again, hoping to get the feeling of eyes off of her. She hated it, she hated being the center of attention right now. It always made her skin crawl and her stomach tie into knots. She always just found herself not really knowing what to say...

Larry’s expression turned from hopeful to learn more to slight worry once he heard her answer. He wanted to learn more about this girl and to get responses like this wasn’t going to help him in the end, but he didn’t wanna push her into being uncomfortable. He knew what that was like, being too familiar with the feeling before turning back to face forward once again. He felt like he wasn’t making any progress in getting to know her but he could understand why. He wouldn’t have automatically accepted his dad getting to know him better after disappearing for years.

Sal felt a little uneasy with the silence growing in the car, feeling the need to intervene again. He really wanted both of them to get along well and with Diane putting up her defenses, it really wasn’t helping them go anywhere. “Uh, she’s into the game that Todd would force us into playing, remember? DnD?” He asked as he turned his head to look over to Larry for a brief moment. “She’s super creative with her little characters. Always coming up with what they look like and their little backstories.” He added as he moved his gaze out the windshield. 

D felt her cheeks grow warm as soon as she heard her mom move on to another topic and mention the fact that she was kinda a nerd for the fantasy world. She still didn’t move her gaze from the window, more than embarrassed right now.

Larry moved his eyes to look over at Sal once again, chuckling slightly as he nodded his head. “Yeah, I remember!” He said in a slightly enthusiastic tone. “I wouldn’t say he forced us into it, it was fun after the first couple of times we went over.” He added as he looked back out the window. “Remember when we would side track the story? Todd would just get so pissy over the fact that we wanted to go off and make our character’s do something else other than what he had planned.” He added with a snort.

D’s brows raised slightly as she heard that Larry found DnD fun, granted there was something for everyone in it but it was just always associated with nerds and losers. She tilted her head slightly to look into the front seat again and rubbed her cheek slightly with her cold hand. “Uh, do you… Remember what character you played?” She asked lightly, shifting her jaw as she grew a little antsy waiting for an answer.

Larry looked into the rear view mirror once he heard the question and smiled once he saw her blue eyes. “I was a bard I think.” He said with a slight tilt to his head, really trying to remember. “Didn’t really have a name for him, made him a painter and musician that uses his screams as a performance thingy.” He shrugged. “What about you?”

“I like my multiclass character.” She said a little hesitantly. “Rogue and bard tiefling who’s constantly getting into trouble. Uh… They play the hurdy-gurdy.” She added as she smiled a little nervously after she was done speaking.

Larry nodded his head slightly as he listened, letting out an exhale through his nose as he thought for a moment. “Sounds pretty cool.” He said with a light chuckle. “Don’t know what a hurdy-gurdy is but I’m sure it’s a cool instrument.”

“It’s not,” Diane chuckled as she leaned forward slightly. “It’s a hand crank fiddle that’s a little too big to just pull out in the middle of battle and just small enough to carry around on your back.”

Sal smiled to himself as he heard his daughter finally speaking. Sure, it wasn’t about herself but hey, it was a topic they could all talk about and something she enjoyed. He felt a little accomplished as he made a right turn into a park lot, trying to keep and eye out for a parking spot. “You should show him a video of it when we get home,” He suggested lightly. “There’s gotta be one out there somewhere.” He added as he pulled into a parking space with ease seeing that there weren't too many cars in this parking lot.

“There are.” D replied as she leaned back once more and unbuckled her seatbelt with a click. “It’s not that interesting to watch but they don’t sound too bad.” She added as she waited till her mom was fully parked to even consider opening her car door.

Larry cocked his brow at the thought of being shown a video of this instrument. Did she know someone who has one? There can’t be one on the internet since last time he checked, videos loaded at the speed of a snail going through peanut butter. Or did the internet change completely? Was it better than it was in the 90’s? What else had really changed since the 90’s? Obviously it had since phones looked way different now, no longer being a simple flip phone...

His mind was brought out of all the questions once he felt Sal’s hand on his leg, looking down at it before looking at Sal once more. He could see the slight amount of concern in his eyes as soon as he saw them. 

“You alright?” The blunette asked lightly as he rubbed his thumb gently on the denim of Larry’s pants. “You need a minute?”

Larry looked from Sal to the back seat, seeing that it was empty and hearing the car door in the back shutting. He smiled before shaking his head. “No, I’m fine, baby blue,” He said as he moved his hand to rest on top of Sal’s and squeezed it slightly. “Was just thinking a little too much is all.” He added as he leaned in to press a kiss onto Sal’s head before separating completely and opening his car door.

Sal kept a worried look behind his mask as he watched the other making his way out of the car. He stayed for a moment in the car, looking at the keys in his hands before stuffing them in his pocket and getting out of the car himself. He was a little surprised to see Diane had actually been waiting on his side for him to get out, a bit puzzled as to why she had come to his side. 

“You wanna hold hands or something?” He asked with a slight chuckle as he shut his car door. “Thought you were too old for that kinda thing, baby girl.”

D flustered slightly at the question before shaking her head. “No! I wasn’t wanting to hold your hand, I’m not 6!” She said with a slightly offended tone before glancing over to Larry. “Just wanna stay close to you is all.” 

Sal glanced over to Larry once he saw his daughter’s eyes moving to him realizing she was probably uncomfortable with being close to his partner without him. He found it a little ridiculous that she was acting like this, knowing full well Larry was more than accepting of almost anybody. He had to get Diane to just open up a little more to see that.

He shook his head of the thought before smiling behind his mask at her. “That’s fine,” He said as he started to walk away from the car. “But you can still hold my hand if you really want to.” He added with a light chuckle. 

Larry followed pretty close behind Sal only catching the last few words that left his mouth, glancing to Diane wondering what she even said. “I would love to hold your hand, blue.” He said with a slightly goofy smile as he took his hand out of his pocket and held it out for the other. “It’s all nice and clammy just how you like it.” He joked as he smiled even more to show off his gapped tooth.

Sal looked up at Larry and couldn’t help but smile back as soon as he saw it, moving his hand to hold his. “Well I’m glad someone took me up on the offer.” He cooed as he squeezed his hand as they continued walking.

D cocked her brow as soon as she saw the affection being shown, finding it a little more surprising that her mom was actually affectionate with someone else other than her. It made her feel a little uncomfortable to say the least… 

“Uh I think Imma just wait in the store for you guys,” She said kinda abruptly as she stuffed her hands into her pockets. “Just text me when you're about to check out, momma.” She added as she started to make her way to the front of the store a little quicker pace than the couple.

Larry cocked his brow slightly at the rudeness of her voice and then rushing off to go be on her own. “Does she do that all the time?” He asked as he tilted his head to look at the blunette.

Sal let out a sigh as he watched her make her way in front of them before bringing his attention to his partner. “When it’s a stranger, this is kinda common.” He said with a shake of his head. “She’s a little uh… shy and scared after something that happened years ago. She used to be this crazy social butterfly up until she was about 7…” He said as he turned his attention to her opening the doors to the store. “It’s only been getting worse. She gets all anxious when she even orders food for herself, I’m constantly having to push her to talk more.” He added as he squeezed the brunette’s hand.

Larry still kept a puzzled look on his face as he heard that, turning his attention to the now closing doors of the store. “What do you mean? What happened?”

The blunette looked over to Larry once more and let out a breath. “I’ll uh, let you know later. When we’re not focusing on getting you clothes.” He said lightly as they finally made it to the doors. He let go of Larry’s hand and grabbed the handle of the door, pulling it open as he gestured for the other to walk in. 

Larry let out a slight breath at being left in the dark before stepping through the door into what seemed like a second hand store for clothes. Differing brands on the same racks was a familiar image to him as he remembered coming here sometime for some shirts to use as throwaways after painting. It was weird to think of this as a haven for new clothes that weren’t going to permanently smell like moth balls and old musky attic. Some of the clothes actually looked new and never worn which was a little surprising to see. He looked back only to make sure Sal was following behind. 

As the doors shut behind him, Sal moved to stand beside Larry. He moved his hand to hold the brunette’s again and squeezed lightly. “I think clothes your size is this way.” He said as he pulled on Larry’s arm lightly, leading him to where they needed to go.

Larry only stopped once Sal had stopped, watching as the other started to go through what looked like jeans. But his attention was more focused on looking around the store to maybe spot the top of Diane’s head, honestly wondering where she had run off to in the store. She was quick, he had to give her that since she wasn’t anywhere near the entrance when they got in. 

His attention was pulled away from looking to glance at Sal. “Uh, so what’s the plan after this?” He asked lightly. “Like I know we’re gonna get clothes and stuff now, but are we… gonna try to figure out what’s going on around here?”

Sal paused in looking through the rack of jeans, and tilted his head to look up at the brunette. “I’m not… too sure where to start.” He admitted softly as he pulled out a pair of jeans and held them up to his partner’s hips. “The only couple of places that really comes to mind for anything that might relate to… any of this could be either Todd’s house or the apartments.” He added as he put the jeans back. “I’m sure Todd’s house isn’t gonna be the best option since the police kinda cleared out anything they thought was ‘evidence’ and people have moved in and out of it. So I guess the best place would be to look through the apartments…” He said with a slightly worried tone. “Haven’t… Been in there since I moved.” He added as he continued to look through the jeans.

Larry looked at the other with a little bit of worry at his hesitant words, moving to shove his hands into his jean pockets. “I mean, we don’t have to do it right after this… We can wait a little bit. Maybe bring uh… Diane?” He asked as he paused trying to remember the name.

“No,” Sal said without hesitation. “She’s not gonna step one foot in the horrible place after what happened there. I barely even let her near the treehouse because of what happened in there.” He added as he pulled another pair off the rack and put it against Larry’s hips once more and hummed as he put them over his arm. “... We can go after she falls asleep.” He added as if making an exception just for him. 

Larry looked at Sal with a completely puzzled look. Sal wasn’t the type to turn down having a friend to join in on their ghost hunting adventures, he would have thought he would even love to bring their daughter on a trip like this. But then again, everyone died there. All their friends and family…

“You’ve still got the Gearboy, right?” He asked in a nonchalant way as he thought more on maybe seeing their friends one more time, seeing his mom one more time… 

Sal shifted his jaw behind his mask as he heard the question about the Gearboy, glancing up at Larry for a moment before moving away from the rack and making his way slowly to the next aisle. “It’s tucked away somewhere in the attic.” He said in a whisper. “We’ll look when Diane’s asleep.” 

“Why?” Larry asked as he followed behind Sal. “Why do we gotta wait until after she’s out? You keeping things from her?” He added as he looked around the store again to try and spot D, once again failing to do so.

“I’m keeping her safe,” Sal said as he glanced at Larry as he rounded around to enter the next aisle. “But once again, we’re in public and I don’t wanna talk about that right now.” He added with a tone that read that that was the last he was gonna talk about it. 

Larry was a little taken back by Sal basically telling him to stop asking about things he’s really curious about. He stayed quiet for a moment before scratching the back of his neck. “Uh I think… I should go look at the shirts.” He said hesitantly. “You have my pants size and you know what I like… We’d be able to go home soon if I just go pick shirts.” He suggested with a shrug.

Sal looked up at Larry once more and nodded his head. “Of course, Lar. Just don’t leave the store alright?” He asked in a better tone of voice then the one he had used previously. “Find me or Diane whenever you're done so we can head home.” He added with a smile behind his mask. 

The brunette nodded his head as he smiled back slightly at his partner, feeling like that was the right response to do. That was the response that would make Sal happy… 

He made his way past Sal and started to wander through random aisles, trying to find shirts his size. He didn’t know what he would possibly find in this store since thrift shops probably changed a little bit as the style of clothes had changed too. Heess just hoping to find something he liked, honestly not really caring about the design. Maybe even a few long sleeve shirts that would help him battle the cold feeling of the air outside…

He paused once he saw a few aisles away Diane, once again in a normal setting. Her face relaxed and her eyes stayed down as she looked through what seemed like the shirts he needed. He watched as she had obviously picked one she was trying to convince herself of buying and was about to say ‘hello’ and maybe even get a few more words with her before watching as she was bumped into by someone.

D looked from the rack of shirts and furrowed her brow at first at the feeling of being bumped, thinking that was very obviously rude. She was only able to open her mouth before she shut it again. 

There stood a boy she knew from years ago, when she used to have friends. His real hair and blue eyes almost jolting her into a nostalgic dream. He was someone she used to talk for short amounts of time the nights she’d spend at Janis’ house. This was her older brother, Dan and his expression read of sligh shock and worry.

“I’m so sorry,” he started with a slight chuckle. “I kinda didn’t see you there.”

“No, you’re completely fine,” she said quickly. “I was probably in the way anyway.” She added with a light chuckle as she was about to look back at the rack of clothing. 

“Not at all,” Dan added as he shook his head, looking a little closer at the smaller teen beside him. “You look a little familiar. Have we met before or seen each other?”

D looked up from the rack again before raising her brows slightly. “Uh yeah, we’ve met before. I’m in your science class… a few desks behind you… and uh, I was one of Jan’s friends way back when.”

Dan’s eyes widened with recognition and smiled a little wider. “You’re Diane, that’s right.” He said with a light laugh. “You’re the girl that was into the boy shows.”

D laughed slightly as she nodded her head. “Uh, yeah, that’s me.” She said before she adjusted the shirt in her hand. “Why you here? Wouldn’t have thought someone like you wouldn’t be in a store like this. I know your sister wouldn’t be caught dead in one.” She added with a joking tone.

Dan chuckled slightly at the joking tone as he nodded his head. “Yeah, that’s baby Jan for ya.” He said as he started to look through the rack of shirts. “I’m just kinda looking for a comfortable shirt to do an ‘autumn color run’ in. I’m not paying 20 dollars for some stiff, heavy fabric that does breath well.” He said as he continued looking through. 

D nodded her head as she tried to seem interested, honestly a little surprised by someone from her school being so awfully nice to her. Her bully’s brother at that. “Sounds like fun.” She said with a slightly cheerful tone. “Never really participated in color runs but they seem pretty cool.” She said as she felt her cheeks warm up. She felt like she was being a little dumb at this moment, not really prepared to make conversation with anyone. 

“Yeah it’s for a good cause too.” Dan added before looking over to Diane again and seeing the shirt she was holding. “You planning on getting that?” He asked as he nodded his head toward her arms.

D’s brows went up as she almost forgot she was even holding a shirt in the first place, looking back down at it and taking in a breath. “Oh! I uh- I thought it would probably look good- baggy sleeves are kinda- well I mean this is a guy’s shirt-“ She said as she started to stumble on her words before stopping once she heard the chuckles coming from Dan. It made her face flush read and her heart flutter slightly.

“I think you should get it,” The boy said as he smiled even wider at her. “It's only a couple bucks and the color would be nice with your eyes.” He added as he gave her another smile.

D felt like she was redder than a tomato in that moment, probably overthinking the situation. There’s no way this guy was flirting with her. He was just being nice… 

She slowly nodded her head as she looked back down at the shirt. “Uh… Yeah, might as well.” She said with a slightly nervous smile back. 

Dan smiled back before chuckling slightly, grabbing a shirt off the rack. “Think this ones good enough, it’ll get stained anyway.” He said with a shrug before looking to Diane again. “I’ll see ya around, right? Don’t be shy, you can talk to me about the gross, slime bits in a TV show again.” He added jokingly before waving slightly as he started to walk away.

D waved back slightly, feeling a little strange at the interaction she just had. Her brain slightly scattered as she looked down at the shirt again. He was actually nice to her. Something she didn’t think was capable of by another kid around her age.

She jolted back as she felt a hand on her shoulder, turning around quickly and staring wide eyed into a just as shock looking Larry. He held his hand up as if he were sorry for touching her.

“Hey, you alright?” Larry asked with a slight chuckle. “Saw you getting bumped into but I didn’t know if you had it under control.”

D stated for a moment before nodding her head. “Ye- Yeah, I’m fine.” She said as she brought her hand to her face, the could of it slightly helped her warm cheeks. “Just some kid I know from school.” She added as she glanced back to make sure Dan hadn’t been near to see Larry, unable to really think of some sort of excuse to explain who he was with how flustered she was being. She let out a breath as she looked back to Larry and moved her hand from her face. “Need some help finding shirts?” She asked with a slight sigh.

Larry stared at her for a moment, finding it slightly funny she was bright red and trying to process her thoughts. He nodded his head as he looked around. “Yeah… girl like you had some style, right?” He asked with a light chuckle as he started to make way down the aisle.

D snorted slightly as she heard the words leaving Larry’s mouth, looking back down at the long sleeve on her arms again and rubbing the cloth between her fingers. 

“Right.”


End file.
